Los murales

As you have read my blog, dear reader, it should be evident to you that a major source of the culture of this diverse and fascinating city is the Hispanic culture. I actually prefer to label it the Ibero-American culture. Granted, this is VERY BROAD, since the culture of the Iberian countries, España and Portugal, is actually only one source for the Latin-American cultures, which are divergent blends of the indigenous (who varied from hunter-gatherers to highly settled and civilized), the African (particularly in Brazil and the Caribbean) and other influences (Anglo-American particularly in northern Mexico).

Nevertheless, the label serves to cover not only the Mexican-origin cultural influences but also to Canary Islanders who arrived in 1731, and other Hispanic sources for the diverse cultural influences upon San Antonio.

Now, to get to my theme for this posting. One of the major artistic expressions especially in Mexico is the mural. Going back to pre-Columbian times at indigenous centers such as Teotihuacán or Bonampak, murals often take the form of painting (fresco or other media) on inside walls and also outside walls. The latter also present murals made of small pieces of stone or other hard material, thus a mosaic.

And San Antonio isn't lacking in mural art! Indeed, probably one of the most famous murals is on the outside wall above the main entrance to the Lila Cockrell Theater in the Hemisfair convention center. It was done by one of the famous 20th Century Mexican muralists, and like outside murals on buildings of the campus of la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in the capital city, it is a busy, expressive picture of the historical heritage of San Antonio. I've enjoyed this mural many times in the past while riding the tour barge on the river extension below.

But one doesn't have to seek mural art by outside artists. There are plenty of local mural artists to go around! And I'm NOT including gang graffiti, no matter how many colors or designs it may feature; gang graffiti is to "Art" what rap is to "Music" (i.e., it's pseudo).

One can discover mural artwork anywhere in San Antonio if you just look. Even at Alamo Heights Junior School, which is outside the city limit of A.H. and in northeast S.A., there is a mural painted on the wall outside the gym entrance, of the school mascot, the Mule, actively kicking.

The Westside is THE place to look for lots of good, highly visible mural art. Naturally, it was the original Mexican-American barrio (neighborhood) of this city. There are some great murals inside Lanier High School, including one of Mexican President and hero Benito Juárez. Strangely, the school lacks outside murals, but there are some on buildings within just a couple of blocks. There used to be a mural all across the wall of a business building that faces Lanier. It had a pretty young chicana, a pachuco (think, zoot suit) and la Virgen de Guadalupe. Alas! during the time I had substitute teaching assignments at Lanier I was distressed to witness how more and more of the mural got defaced with gang graffiti! Even Guadalupe got graffiti'ed! And I had considered that pandillista (gang-member) graffiti hoodlums at least respected others' wall art! My mistake. Eventually the wall simply got painted over in a solid color (last time I saw it, there were already a couple graffiti on it).

But that's sufficient about the bad on the Westside. Plenty of murals along Zarzamora Street are in fine shape. North of Martin Street and visible from bus stops at that intersection is probably my favorite, on the wall of a animal feed store; it shows St. Francis with animals. Just north of the US 90 West overpass a building on the east side of Zarzamora features Guadalupe and, in a more prominent rendering size-wise, the head of her son Jesus, crowned with thorns, with three hilltop crosses in the background. And this is just the start of a description of the colorful "Zarzamora Street Gallery" of mural wall-art, a linear gallery!

To the west of South Zarzamora (north of US 90) is one of the San Antonio public housing projects, Cassiano Homes. The buildings are two-story brick with stucco or concrete end walls. These end walls are all covered over with mural paintings. The feature all sorts of subjects; a whole line of them facing South Hamilton Street are evocative of the long history of Mexico, from the domestication of maize by the indigenous peoples thru Spanish discovery and conquest to the Revolution of the early 20th Century.

Parelleling Zarzamora Street closer in to downtown is Brazos Street. It has several striking murals along it, especially in the area where Brazos intersects Buena Vista Street and Alazan Creek. In fact, new murals ahve been painted on building walls facing Brazos, at Buena Vista and a block north at West Commerce. The first one celebrates elements of chicano culture, and the latter mural honors Vietnam veterans.

There are also several murals visible along Guadalupe Street. One that was painted in the past year or so on a street-facing wall a couple blocks west of Mexican Christian Church displays an American Indian holding a scales as its central figure. And both along Guadalupe and Zarzamora one may see mural art on the outside wall of a business that illustrates the business going on inside -- and interesting form of advertising, I'd say!

As one might guess, the old Spanish missions had mural art, too. At least in the mission heyday they did, but most of it has vanished with the ravages of time. Two notable remaining samples are an interior painting of a sun at Mission Concepción and geometric designs on a small portion of the outside wall of the bell tower at Mission San José. The former mural design used to cover the entire outside wall of the mission church; it must have been impressively colorful back when the Franciscan missionaries were in the process of converting the native Coahuiltecans to Catholicism.

Murals, then, have been a part of the San Antonio scene since its beginning as a mission station!