Imperial Valley Desert Museum
“Imperial Valley Desert Museum received a Far South/Border North grant; the initiative offers a promising platform for indigenous artists to showcase their unique perspectives and challenges through art. The grant will fund a permanent mural on museum grounds, highlighting the struggles and contributions of indigenous peoples, focusing on social justice issues like land rights, cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, and decolonization efforts, whose ancestral lands IVDM stewards.” (Via: Imperial Valley Press)
The team consisted of myself, River Garza and lead artist Eustolio Pardo. The wall was over 100ft wide and 15 ft tall, painted in the Imperial Valley Dessert Museum in Ocotillo, CA for three months total from Sep. - Nov. 2024. The museum itself preserves and showcases the local tribes history, art and land stewardship in Kumeyaay territory. Having lodging in the dessert and still making commutes almost weekly from Los Angeles, it was a nice change of scenery painting in the desert.
The production side of the mural was exciting to be a part of. Having the original sketch to scale off the wall and using the hand drawn grid method like many muralists before. Everything being drawn out and using primary house paint colors made it all the more fun. Hundreds of custom colors made with about 8 buckets of paint it really sharpened color theory for us. Of course cheap brushes for the win!
The mural concept by Tolo tells a story in historical chronological order. It starts on the left side of the building in the beginning of time - Kumeyyay communities story of creation believe twins made the first humans one was blind and the other was not. Together they molded little humans and made the first people. The scenery changes onto how the tribes used to steward the land pre contact. Surrounded by the desert landscape, plants, traditional homes and pottery. Small boats in the distance of the oceans waters insinuating contact and colonization. It moved into the scenes that we did not get permission to paint. In which I feel it always important to talk about, it included Spanish priests coming in masses with a cross, the stealing of native children forced to go to boarding schools in so called “Canada”. As the mural moves to the right of the museum the story continues. Hegemonic ideologies like borders are created changing the course of history forever. We included a present day map of the reservations and cities of the surrounding areas and how they are split through the border from north to south despite being from the same tribes. You’ll see a coyote near the border symbolizing the journeys and sacrifices that have been made throughout these lands. On the wall we wrote “welcome to Indian land” as a cultural reference to the 19 month Alcatraz occupation of 1969. The scene ends in ceremony around the fire, bird singers of the area sharing medicine songs and carrying on tradition, resistance and culture to this day. A native women adorns the furthest part of the mural she is painted with a red hand mark in her face in solidarity with MMIWP. In solidarity we felt it necessary in adding a watermelon , all the love and Rage for Palestine. Lastly, A quote was lettered on the top right of the mural wrapping up the story saying “Our Song Is Not Over.”
Although we have not had an official inauguration there will be one in the works come 2025. Thanks for reading!