Mesa College will soon be tearing down the F building’s enormous mural that was created by the Chicano Studies Department over 30 year ago.
Members of MEChA – a Spanish acronym for “Student Chicano movement of Aztlán” – started the mural in the spring of 1979 after it was approved by the Mesa College board of trustees the previous fall. The MEChA organization has been a part of Mesa College since 1969 and strives to promote Chicano unity, culture and empowerment through political action and education.
The piece took 3-4 months to complete. Twenty MEChA students worked with professional artists Guillermo Chavez Rosette and Ramses Noriega to complete a visual timeline of historical Chicano events.
The mural is filled with vivid cultural imagery and represents the civil rights struggle of Chicano citizens. It has six sections that are meant to be read from left to right. The panels tell the story of Latin America’s conquest, the colonization of Mexico and other areas of the southwest. The left side of the mural is full of historical pre-Columbian imagery with more modern symbolism covering the right half.
According to Cesar Lopez of the Chicano Studies department, MEChA wanted to raise cultural awareness at Mesa College.
“[Students wanted] to expand the presence of diversity on campus,” said Lopez.
Mesa College has taken at least 100 photos of the original painting to preserve the mural in some way. Administrators are still in discussing whether or not to reproduce the piece. A canvas copy of the mural may be created, but the size of the copy is still undecided.
Michael Ornelas, Department Chair of Chicano Studies, was surprised the artwork endured the last three decades.
“I didn’t think it would last this long, but it did,” said Ornelas.
MEChA is proud that the cultural statement has made such an impact at Mesa College for the last 30 years. Art enthusiasts on campus hope the mural’s destruction will allow students to express their creativity once again.