Grow Mural, Aspire Pacific Academy, Huntington Park, CA
I was honored to co-create a mural with the high school students of Aspire Pacific Academy. In a time when cultural identity is politicized, immigrant communities are scrutinized, and public education feels like contested ground, stepping into a school to create culture-based art together is a quiet act of resistance.
As Latinxs and Americans, we carry layered identities — Indigenous, Mexican, Central American, Afro-Latino, Chicano. We navigate questions about belonging while continually asserting our value in a climate that often challenges it.
This mural stands as a testament to our creativity, complexity, and resilience.
The prompt, “Grow,” asked students to reflect:
What matters most to you?
How do you want to grow — from seed to full bloom — not only as individuals, but as a community and as future leaders?
Students painted on individual fabric panels, working freehand or with custom stencils inspired by our conversations. They shared the symbols that feel like home — favorite foods, flowers, memories, cultural icons, and everyday joys. I translated their ideas into stencils, allowing each student to shape the visual language of the mural.
Their individual pieces were then incised and collaged together on the wall using the marouflage process — transforming separate expressions into a unified, vibrant composition.
Workshops were held once or twice a week for one-hour sessions. Despite the limited time, the stencil and collage process allowed us to build something bold and expansive — a mural that reflects the spirit of the youth and their boundless potential.
Grow is more than a theme. It is a declaration:
We are rooted. We are rising. And we are becoming.
Would you like to co-create a mural for your school or organization? Inquiries are welcome.