A new collaborative mural created by youth at Mi Centro will be used as an educational tool on LGBTQ issues and immigration. The portable mural will be displayed at various fairs and presentations at local schools and throughout the district.
The Queer/Trans Mural Project brought youth together to create a mural incorporating immigration, community and history themes. The project took place at Mi Centro, where young people ages 13-25 participated.
Over 16 weeks, participants worked on the project with the help of Dalila Paola Mendez, a queer indigenous Salvadoran/Guatemalan artist and Erick Villegas-Nuñez, a queer Xicano artist.
The first meeting took place on July 21st, when nearly 20 people showed up to work on it. As weeks went on, participation dwindled, with 10 people remaining involved until completion.
After settling on the themes and agreeing on a collective vision, participants were given sketchbooks and told to make their ideas come to life.
As young people shared their drawings with one another and filled pages with sketches, Mendez asked the artists to think of how pieces could flow with one another. The day finally came when people pieced their sketches together across a table to create the mural outline, and they began painting the following week.
After four months of dedication and effort, the mural was unveiled at the end of November. Each participant received a $100 stipend and a certificate of recognition from 53rd District Assembly member, Miguel Santiago. The Los Angeles LGBT Center received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to finance the project.
