Hello friends, Hivers and Street Art fans. Today I share a few of the many murals I ran across in South Omaha. The murals I share today express Latino and Indigenous cultures. This area of the city much feels like you are in a different country or at least a different region of the country. Todays post however will just be about the mural I found walking the streets and will serves as my entry into the CCC's Street Art Contest Round 202.
This mural is named Del Futuro Al Pasado. Translation in English is: Of the Future to the Past. That's what Google translation says, correct me if I'm wrong my Spanish friends. It's a Mexican Community Mural that was completed in 2016. The address of this great piece of art is at 4909 S 25th St, Omaha, NE 68107.
The company that was responsible for this mural had hopes to hiring two artists. They had nine apply and due to the high quality of artists that applied they ended up hiring six of them. Hugo Zamorano was the lead, and Gerardo Vazquez worked as an apprentice. They then shifted thier budget to hire Ian and Jair Rodriguez, Aaron Olivo, and Daniel Castaneda.
Being a community mural the Mexican American people of South Omaha had a good influence what all went into this one. Homes were visited, numerous scrap books were looked at and of course authentic foods were shared. All involved came together to share who they are, what they stand for, and how they want to be remembered. The older generations had a desire to make it possible for their kids and grandkids to have better lives.
The north wall shows a lot of the accomplishments that they made such as places to worship in their own language, and places to gather. It also show a lot of customs, traditions and some places they worked. This was all possible because a lot individuals sacrificed their time and resources to make South Omaha a better place for them to live in.
It really is a strong mural with well painted messages. In the bottom right hand corner you can see the love for music. I tell you just being down in this part of town you can hear music all over the place. Even one of the restaurants here offer singing and playing of instruments right at your table side.
The east wall shows a lot of the challenges they faced. Many were not encouraged to pursue college careers, speaking thier own language was frowned upon, lack of employment and among other things. A lot of individuals fought for civil rights, justice and aid via several different programs.
Very strong meanings are present on this wall. One that stood out to me was the kid who's mouth was covered up. The kid was writing on a piece of paper, "I will not speak Spanish." There is also a kid hanging from the arm that is covering the other kids mouth. It just shows injustices happened and many felt doing something about it. Now higher education opportunities was another thing that many wanted. The individual speaking into the megaphone shows there message for these opportunities would have been loud and clear.
Initially I thought I would have shared a few other murals I took pictures of in this area. There are about a dozen in this area. This particular one has so many messages which show both the past struggles and achievements of the Mexican population in this area. I just couldn't fit the other murals in without writing a very lengthy article.
The good thing is I have many more to share in future articles in this community. This is only one area of Omaha and there are many more murals else where for me to discover yet. Heads up, I'll be here often 😁
Well that's all I have for you today. Take care, stay safe and enjoy the week ahead. Until next time!!
