Mission Celebrations (2010) by Precita Eyes Muralists directed by Susan Cervantes

“Mission Celebration/Celebracions de la Mision” is a mural that honors Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers Union, and celebrates all the things we love the most about our beautiful Mission District. At the top, center, is a smiling milagro of the sun, on a bright, beautiful Mission day. The sky is full of light refracting into all the colors of the rainbow, shining over a huge Mission celebration.

We also honor our neighborhood’s history in this mural: at the far left is the old Mission Dolores, as it looked 200 years ago, and at the lower left we see the “precita” or little dam, from which Precita Park, Precita Avenue, Precita Valley, and the Precita Eyes Muralists all get their names. From the door of the old Mission, we see Ohlone people, the original inhabitants of the neighborhood, walking through the palm trees toward the central celebration. They join bicyclists, a low rider, and costumed figures celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Carnaval (Mardi Gras), as well as everyday people and workers from the community. One celebrant, with a painted face, holds a poster of Cesar Chavez.

From the right side of the mural, we see a monumental portrait of Cesar Chavez, community leader and organizer, and behind him the fertile farms of California with farm workers laboring in the fields. “El Volado” (the Mexican Bus) makes its way toward the central celebration, right behind a diverse group of marchers playing drums and demonstrating their solidarity with farm workers, in support of Cesar Chavez. A “paletero” is there too, with a cart full of popsicles (paletas), and musicians [one of the musicians is Berta’s father], including some Mission District mariachis. Above the mariachis, hanging on a ladder, wall dancers perform acrobatics.

The Victorian building at the center of the mural is a depiction of the building that once stood at this intersection, where the mural is painted. In front of the building Aztec dancers greet the four directions and perform a dance of blessing for the community.

The decorated frame that surrounds the mural features milagros, both traditional and innovative. Milagros are small devotional offerings that are used in prayer, and they represent the substance of our prayers. Some of the traditional milagros that we’ve included show hearts, hands, feet, the sun, the moon; we also include milagros of non-traditional shapes: our artists’ palettes, a paintbrush, a shooting star, a spray can, and even a taco.

Source: Precita Eyes