As the fall semester comes to a close here at Los Medanos College, the Art 2D Design class is close to completing their art mural panel to represent the Native American tribe in the Bay Area. The full purpose of this mural when people see it is to have a grasp on the importance of the Indigenous culture that lies in the Bay Area.
Students have done much research on the indigenous history and cultural heritage in order to pursue this project in the most respectful and honorable way as most of them do not have indigenous backgrounds.
Art teacher Eric Sanchez reached out to local street artist and dancer Drew Valencia, who is of Native American descent to weigh in on his artistic perspective to lead the concept of the mural.
“Being able to be in this space and share this with people is an honor for me to speak about it and to share also that before these times, this was a way of life,” said Valencia.
Valencia expressed how he got together with the art class, looking over their research of the first peoples of the land. The drawings they have designed hold specific aspects and elements for the Indigenous culture, including the animals, landscape, and basket designs.
Valencia described how native tribes are not all one and the same and that he used his experience and knowledge to incorporate a similar aspect to the panel
“I’m familiar with the representation and what things are and what they look like,” said Valencia. “A lot of our people are matriarchs societies, so the mothers, grandparents, and mother earth are at the head of everything we do.”
Working on the mural with the art students, Valencia had the chance to get to know them in their mutual space and to exchange each other’s experiences as artists.
Roughly a few weeks focused on painting and creating the art mural, their biggest challenge was waiting for their sketches to be reviewed before foregoing the physical process of painting. While the class spent most of the semester researching and preparing the panels, student Makaila Orellana said that the painting aspect went by quicker than most of them anticipated.
According to students Sara Maza, Emily Taylor, and Orellana, this project has become a big part of their semester as they understood that in order to create this mural with respect and honor, they themselves had to develop a genuine attachment.
“This is something for people to see and start asking questions like ‘who are these people?’, ‘where did they come from?’,” said Valencia. “Especially in an environment like a college even with kids, they become advocates as well, for me it was just a great opportunity.”
While there are no set plans as to where the mural will be located, Sanchez anticipates it will be installed in the Student Union and expects the mural to be displayed by the upcoming spring semester.
This art mural is funded through Equal Employment Opportunity, Contra Costa Community College District and collaborated with the art department, Equity & Inclusion and Student Life.
