Colorado AHEC Medicina y Urban/Rural Art Lessons en Salud (MURALS) Project
Background:
Colorado AHEC (COAHEC) humbly sponsors and produces health-themed murals painted by local artists with our COAHEC MURALS program. These murals will communicate health messages in culturally resonant ways to communities throughout Colorado. COAHEC commissions local artists to create informative and beautiful artwork on large structures, such as anything from silos to large community centers throughout the state. We believe that we will be able to enhance the existing community health efforts utilizing authentic community engagement to enhance positive health change by increasing community and individual agency in their unique Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). Without the community’s collective knowledge and culture to inform their mural, the theme and message will not effectively speak to its people. (Click HERE to peruse the toolkit on “Authentic Community Engagement to Advance Equity” provided by the Office of Health Equity within the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment Office of Health Equity guide to Authentic Community Engagement to Advance Equity.)
Additionally, the dovetailing between art and medicine is well established and respected among medical communities as well as social communities. It speaks to traditions of healing that are embedded deeply in unique cultures and helps western medicine and cultural healing to not only co-exist but become one. Historically, artists of various cultures have expressed health-related topics in traditional mural work and which we have seen since pre-historic muraling.
Since 1946, the World Health Organization (WHO) has held that health consists of physical, mental, and social health and that community and individual engagement with art connect positively to total health. A visual mural can capture a community or uniquely held belief or thought that words may fail to express. Research exists regarding cancer patients and art therapy healing which suggests to COAHEC that art, as a healing modality, may be underutilized. Art itself can also provide a release from stress which, in turn, can lead to emotional relief. This may or may not lead to a person’s ability to then communicate more effectively in words and connect with others who are viewing the same work.
COAHEC believes that locally sourced and culturally relevant murals are an effective medium to develop community engagement with emerging health care issues. The goal is to have murals created by the hands and the imagination of artists reflecting their own community values in images with the purpose of evoking an emotional connection within the community.
Sources:
Our Murals
About the Mural:
Frank Garza is creating this mural for the new Library Library and Innovation Center (LINC) the newest library in the High Plains Library District. You can learn more about this new facility and even see time-lapse pictures of its construction HERE.
Article from the Greeley Tribune regarding the opening and views of LINC as of March 1, 2023 Link to article.
In progress photo of Frank Garza Mural at LINC
"left" side of Frank Garza mural at LINC
"Right" side of mural by Frank Garza at LINC
About the Artist:
Loveland based artist, Frank Garza, has been creating public art installations in Colorado since 1999. Specializing in architecturally integrated pieces, he strives to make each project unique. Frank uses several mediums including wood, steel, aluminum, porcelain, glass, polycarbonate, fabric, integrated LED lighting and clay. His works convey community, cultural, and historical themes. After more than twenty years in public art, Garza has a wealth of experience collaborating with city planners, architects, builders, engineers, construction crews. and community leaders. His municipal projects are on display throughout the front range including city buildings in Denver, Thornton, Louisville, Greeley, Evans. Currently Frank is creating a monumental bronze sculpture for the city of Fort Collins.Although known for public art, he also creates gallery work. Garza will often create up to four distinctly different bodies of work simultaneously. He doesn't believe an artist must develop a single style and become that. It is this 'no confinement' approach that has helped him maintain a balance based on both impulse and strategy.
"I would consider Frank Garza one of the top 100 Most Influential Artists of Northern Colorado ... in 2015" - Frank's Mom
For more info on Frank visit:
About the Mural:
This is the first mural of the Colorado AHEC MURALS Project.
It is located on the office of the San Luis Valley AHEC (SLV AHEC). To learn more about SLV AHEC visit their website: http://www.slvahec.org/.
About the Artist:
Bianca Maestas graduated Colorado College with a BA in Studio Arts and has lived as a working artist in Denver, Colorado for the past twenty years. Her first exhibition was at the San Luis Museum and Cultural Center at the age of three.Maestas grew up in the small Spanish and Native American community of San Luis, the Oldest Town in Colorado. Maestas learned the art of bronze casting alongside her father, world renowned sculptor Huberto Maestas. She has worked with other notable artists such as R.C. Gorman, Emanuel Martinez and Luis Jimenez. Her cultural upbringing and early childhood experiences at the foundry, informs her work.
Maestas is a multi-disciplinary artist who is skilled in diverse mediums; bronze sculpture, interior design, murals, paintings, photography, and public installations. Maestas shapes universal, classic forms into fluid, fresh experiences enjoyed by a diverse audience. Movement remains a constant and effecting element of her art as well as texture, pattern, and organic aesthetics.
Installations include floral and steel sculptural designs at The Denver Art Museum, Star Wars “ART of the Force” event, multiple up-cycle and art garden displays at the Colorado Convention Center, “Colorado Home & Garden Show and Pallet Fest”. Her works of art have been exhibited at the Sangre de Cristo Museum & Conference Center, Pueblo, CO, Millicient Rogers Museum, Toas, NM, and Monte Sagrado Hotel and Resort, Taos, NM. Her work is in many private collections, nationally and internationally. To learn more visit her website: http://www.sketchgarden-flowermetal.com/.
News About This Mural
Valley Courrier article: "Healing images speak a language people of the valley understand"
https://alamosanews.com/article/healing-images-speak-a-language-people-of-the-valley-understand
Fly to Heal: Mural by Juls Mendoza
Juls Mendoza
Fly to Heal by Juls Mendoza
Fly to Heal
About the Mural:
Fly to Heal by Juls Mendoza
This mural represents the plight of every migrant child. The kid is on his way to a new and unknown destination, flying over dahlias which represent change and strength on this new journey. But he is not alone, he is accompanied by monarch butterflies, which are a symbol of migration. He’s not letting go of his most precious toys, his memories, or his home, “Su Hogar,” a place where you live and feel safe, calm, and peaceful.
The jaguar mask represents the boy’s culture but it also represents strength, ferocity, and courage. He wears this mask to try to fit in and hide his fears, feeling uncomfortable and insecure in this place where there are mountains and the people speak English.
This Mural was completed in collaboration with The Center for Bioethics and the Humanities at CU Anschutz.
The Fly to Heal mural by Juls Mendoza is intended to honor children arriving in the United States and celebrate their strength and resilience. Fly to Heal was part of the 2023 Testimony programming at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the Anschutz Medical Campus, amplifying the voices of children in migration.
About the Artist:
Julio (Juls) Mendoza is a Denver artist who migrated from Ciudad, Juarez, Mexico, in 2001 when he was 11 years old. His family was not poor—they owned a house, and his dad had a job in “Las maquilas,” a factory. Juarez was known for violence, and the violence against women was very high. Concerned for the safety of his wife and daughters, Julio's father decided it was time for a new life in the US.
It took Julio several years to accept his new situation and accept that they would not be returning to Mexico. He had left his two best friends in Juarez, and as a child, the bonds formed through playing outside in the streets and on the rooftops were irreplaceable. The cultural shock, the struggle to learn a new language, and making new friends were significant hurdles. While it was difficult for Julio to comprehend the sacrifices his parent made to migrate, it was equally challenging for his parent to understand his emotional journey as a child in a new country.
Juls understands firsthand the trauma that some children experience during that journey. When Juls left Mexico, he lost a childhood filled with play, friendship, and adventure. Despite these losses, Juls chose to create a mural depicting a spirit of courage and hope. When asked what he wanted people to take away from his mural, Juls replied: “healing.” Juls has personally experienced art's role in healing children and adults alike. We hope that Juls’ mural will inspire reflection, curiosity, and healing. Juls was selected from 96 applications in a global call for submissions.