Here are some of the words of thanks that I spoke at that event:
Thank you everyone so much for your support of this mural. I have so many people and organizations that I want to thank for making this mural a reality.
First off, I want to thank Mayuli Bales, director of Casa Guadalupe Multicultural Community. Casa Guadalupe has been a wonderful partner in this project since the brainstorming process back in February. They were essential to the success of this mural, especially in the organizing of the Latino community, helping me find effective ways to gather input from community members.
Our goal was for this mural to reflect the identity of Latinos in Cold Spring, giving them a visual presence in the community and celebrating the town’s history. We also wanted to empower youth and community members by getting them involved in the painting process.
To get the youth involved, Mayuli helped me organize art workshops in June focused on muralism and identity. These workshops helped build momentum for the mural project, as the kids became more and more excited to paint on the wall.
Back in May we had doubts as to whether this mural was even going to happen. By the end of June, however, we were relieved to discover that murals were a-okay. Thank you City Administrator Paul Hetland and the Planning Commission for working with us during this process.
Meanwhile, another challenge we faced was finding a building on which to paint. This didn’t prove to be too difficult, thanks to Dan Kippley, owner of the Cleaning Center Laundromat right behind me. One morning in early June, Raquel, Yesi, and I met with him and gave him our two-minute spiel. He was quiet for a moment, and then he said simply, “Sure, why not?” Working with Dan has been a dream. He has been the most cooperative, flexible business owner I could have asked for – he let me take over his supply closet, and even helped me work the power washer – multiple times!
Speaking of the power washer, I want to thank Wenner Hardware for donating its use. I am so grateful for all the support that we have received from the local businesses of Cold Spring. Thank you Thrifty White and the Cold Spring Bakery for donating supplies and snacks for the art workshops that we held in June, and thank you to Lumber One, La Perla Market, and Murphy Granite for donating to the mural. Donations have come from generous individuals as well; thank you to my muralist friend Gustavo Lira for donating nearly 20 gallons of paint leftover from a mural he completed in Minneapolis.
I want to also thank my wonderful team of professors who advised me in this project: Elaine Rutherford and Bruce Campbell, as my advisors, and Rachel Melis and Corey Shouse-Tourino as my readers.
Thank you to the Cold Spring Historical Society, including president Duane Kuss, for giving me a tour of Cold Spring and for providing me with old photos to use as fodder for my designs.
And last but not least, thank you to the volunteers. All sorts of people gave their time and energy to this project, from youth to local artists, including Jenny Evens and many others. We put countless hours into this mural, and they were some of the craziest hours I’ll ever remember. They were filled with lots of painting, lots of laughing, and lots of questions. These questions sparked conversations that formed the foundation of the mural - conversations about race, history, and simply getting to know one another.
Almost every day when we were out here, curious townspeople would stop and chat with us for a few minutes about what they saw in the mural. They saw the Latino culture playing an active role in Cold Spring’s history. One thing many people were curious about was the significance of the swirls and bubbles.
The swirls are the Aztec symbol of speech, as I learned from my friend Gustavo Lira. The bubbles, while they refer to the soda pop factory of the early 1900s, for me also evoke the idea of speech bubbles. Having the bubbles and swirls intermingling suggests communication and conversation between cultures.
Questions build conversations, and conversations build relationships. More than in any other project I have ever done, I have experienced in this mural the connections and interdependency that we have with each other. This mural could not have happened without the help and cooperation of all of you here today. The relationships that this mural built are part of the legacy that will live on long after we have finished painting.
As master muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros once said, “Monumental painting lives the life that the wall lives.” This wall, painted with your stories, has come alive through cross-cultural conversation. It is my hope that we keep this conversation going for years to come.
