The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mural celebrates Chicago community
Artists highlight ‘ ordinary,’ essential Pilsen residents.
Pedro Duarte died in 2017, but his story of building a successful restaurant business — Carnitas Don Pedro — despite coming to the U. S. not knowing English, mirrors the experience of many others in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, said artist Mateo Zapata.
After Zapata approached Duarte’s family about creating a mural and partnered with fellow artist Pablo Serrano. Their vision centered on acknowledging “ordinary” Pilsen residents as well as essential workers from the neighborhood, Serrano said.
Duarte loved Pilsen and its people, said his daughter, Magdalena Castaneda. He was grateful to all of those who supported his business and often donated to local nonprofits, including giving food for the annual kermes bazaar for his church, St. Procopius Catholic Parish.
Now his three children and wife continue his legacy by managing the restaurant, using the carnitas recipe he left them.
Zapata initially approached the family, pitching them an idea about painting the mural on a blank, 400- square- foot wall of the restaurant building. The Duarte family immediately agreed to support the project.
In May, Zapata began photographing workers who have helped Pilsen survive, he said. They include cooks, dishwashers, street vendors, educators, construction
workers and even musicians.
For him, creating the mural at this time is powerful because many of the people on there were personally affected by the pandemic.
“It once again challenged them and they proved how important they are to his neighborhood, to this country and society overall. They are resilient.”
Though the completed mural will feature an image of Don Pedro and a few other community members who have died, most of the faces will be of people who are alive. At the center is a phoenix holding in its mouth a serpent that morphs into a border wall and detention cages. At the top left corner, there will be a group of kindergartners playing with Legos in the shape of the city of Chicago. The mural will also include portraits of some essential workers from the neighborhood.
“The wall is a reflection of who we are and it mirrors the community’s resilience,” Serrano said. “We also want to encourage others to acknowledge each other’s presence, power and strength.”
There will be a portrait of a teacher, Gina Pacheco- Gamboa, who created online culturally sensitive tools for low- income students. There will be a portrait of a construction worker and one of a street vendor, who might not be officially classified as essential, “but for her neighbors, she was important,” Zapata said.
“I want the future generations to be proud of their community and proud of the role that their families played in 2020,” Zapata said.
Carlos Nunez, 71, is the musician shown holding his guitar.
He plays and sings rancheras — traditional Mexican songs related to mariachi music — in the streets of Pilsen almost every day even while suffering from vertigo, which sometimes causes him to lose his balance, he said.
He loves to sing to make others happy, but he never expected any type of recognition, he said.
“This mural will make our neighborhood more beautiful and our image will be there forever regardless of the changes,” Nunez said. “I feel like a neighborhood here, it gives me the strength to continue singing and I’m sure my daughters will be proud to see me there.”
Serrano hopes the mural challenges the stereotypes some Pilsen- area residents have about their community and inspires them to learn about each other’s struggles.
The project kicked off at the beginning of October. The artists hope to finish by Thanksgiving. The two also plan to create an online educational tool that will help others learn about everyone in the mural.