“A DETAILED MURAL REPRESENTING THE KUMEYAAY NATION”
The artists and contributors in front of the finished mural.
BY: LEXI COYLE MCDONALD
LIFESTYLE HEAD
Chicano Park is located in Logan Heights, San Diego’s oldest Mexican-American neighborhood. This park is over seven acres large and is home to over 80 paintings, with additional sculptures, playgrounds, and gardens throughout. This park is also the largest collection of outdoor murals in the United States. When one visited there in pre-quarantine times, oftentimes there would be a festival with music and traditional Aztec dance or another type of communal gathering. In an up-and-coming arts district, complete with galleries, boutiques, small shops, and coffee houses, it is clear that Chicano Park is the heart of Barrio Logan, for both visitors and surrounding residents.
This park has been declared a National Historic Landmark since January of 2017, a distinction which both preserves the park and also acknowledges the importance of it. The park began in 1970, after the community was split up and demolished by the I-5 freeway with the promise of the long awaited park under the Coronado Bridge, when hundreds of the residents formed a human chain for twelve days to halt construction. The land use negotiations went on for months, but it was eventually settled that the bridge’s pylons could be used as a canvas for expressing the artistic Mexican Mural movement. Since the formation of the park, there have been a multitude of artists such as Salvador Torres, Guillermo Aranda, Victor Ochoa, and groups like Congresso de Artistas Chicanos en Aztlan. As more murals have gone up, more artists around California have contributed to the imagery, with a wide range of styles (Pic Credit). The picture to the left is of Salvador Torres, one of the most vocal supporters and a talented contributor to Chicano Park.
The most recent mural in Chicano Park is especially important. It is a homage to the Kumeyaay Nation, a local Native American tribe that is indigenous to this land. It depicts the creation story of the Nation, with many different elements such as the circle that represents
the four directions (red, white, black, blue), which shows the cyclical nature of sun both rising and setting every day, new life being passed on, and the water, land, plant, and animal creations. The picture to the right is of this aspect.
The creation story is a four day long story told here in this painting designed and worked on by Carmen Linares. She recognized how important it is to honor the original people who lived on this land, which is why she fought for this mural in this spot. The land is the commonality in the Chicano community and Kumeyaay
Nation, so she needed to have the spiritual support and information from the Kumeyaay who worked alongside her. This has resulted in the Kumeyaay Nation being acknowledged in a prominent spot in the park. Another part of the mural is the two powerful birds and the rattle, which is designed off of the bird singer, John Christman’s (Viejas), own rattle, used in festivals and other Kumeyaay traditions. One of the birds and the rattle is shown to the left.
To commemorate the completion of the mural, a gathering of Kumeyaay tribal members, contributors, and Chicano park frequenters met this past weekend. There was the traditional bird singing and dancing, with persons of all ages participating, from young kids to elders. It was beautiful to see their story being told in the Chicano community through the creative lens of art. Linares was present and explained her design process and she celebrated those who supported her in telling the story. If you find yourself in Chicano Park, it is highly recommended to take a few minutes out of your day to appreciate this painting! (Uncredited photos courtesy of Carmen Lucas (Kwaaymii) and Courtney Coyle.)
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