"Sueños"
created by El Centro youth
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DREAMS / SUEÑOS
by: Patrick Tapia
The mural shown on this picture corresponds to the 9’ high by 18’ long original on the wall of the reception area at El Centro. This mural was designed and painted by youth from the Latino Advocacy Coalition, Telamon program and the Henderson County A.I.M. Club from April to July, 2003 under the supervision of the young Mexican artist Francisco Matus.
The mural Dreams represents the dream of the Latino who immigrates to the United States in search of a better future. On his journey he brings with him a cultural heritage as old as his deep indigenous roots, put down long ago in pre-Columbian America.
This mural is filled with symbols of historic, ethnic, linguistic and social relevance. Some of these are:
The ships of Christopher Columbus represent the colonial Spanish element that is the shared legacy and history of all Hispanic cultures.
The Indian represents the blood of the original pre-Columbian people. She presses against her head the pitcher of indigenous cosmos vision, rich in traditions and legends. She also carries a child in her arms, the product of the union of Spaniard and Indian: Hispanic.
The cultural diversity of Latin America is symbolized by the multi-colored mosaic and fringe of flags from Hispanic nations. Among them we see the figure of Don Quixote de la Mancha, a symbol of Spanish language and culture at its apex.
To one side of the mural we observe the raised fist of struggle of the Hispanic people, which will not yield to the oppression of poverty and social injustice.
The caution sign indicating immigrants crossing, found on the roads near San Antonio, Texas, is repeated here, not as a static image, but as a symbol of people struggling in a desperate effort to cross the distance that separates them from their dream: America.
The immigrants come to the land of opportunity, the land of freedom, the land where they can dream and catch their stars. The struggle of language is represented by the two intertwined vines, each fitting perfectly into the other. They are as pieces of a puzzle that together suggest the power of bilingualism and the miracle of language and communication.
Finally, in the upper left side of the mural, we see a large monarch butterfly. The butterfly, after flying thousands of miles, returns every year from the distant reaches of North America and Central America to Michoacan, Mexico, where it completes its life cycle. The monarch represents the soul of the immigrant, who from far away longs for the land of his birth.