Paredes de Lenguas de Tucson
Tucson Mural Project

Dolores Durán-Cerda Ph.D, Thomas Perry B.A. and Molly Moore B.A.

Mural art is like no other art form. The vision of the artist is both grand and insistent, while the medium itself is short-lived, temporary and vulnerable. The artist, having something to say wants, needs and demands, that others see his/her creation, knowing but not caring, that tomorrow it may be painted over or knocked down by the wreckers’ ball. It is this mix of attributes that makes murals into something far greater than simple graffiti and transcendent of the mechanics of artistic execution, truly creating “Paredes de Lenguas” (Walls of Tongues).

Contemporary Chicano murals have a rich cultural heritage. Their physical location and social environment express community values, origin myths, icons and identity. These murals often become community projects that involve local residents, many times youth, in visually expressing the goals and concerns of that particular community. A mural is a snap-shot into the artists’ minds and hearts telling any, who care to look, something of great importance about the artists and his/her role in the creation of community identity. The group effort of creativity results in building and strengthening ties in the community that, likely as not, are expressed in the mural itself. The central and southern areas of the city of Tucson, Arizona and its’ adjacent twin, South Tucson, have a significant tradition of murals created by Chicano artists but with the building boom and harshness of climate these murals of Tucson are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Chicano murals in particular may be considered as Paredes de Lenguas which are comprised of both linguistic and non-linguistic signs. This notion of the “speaking wall” can be traced back to Aztec and Mayan roots. The Mexican literary critic Miguel León Portilla observes that, “The Aztec artist permits the people to see and to read in the stone, on the walls, and in all works of art, a meaning for their lives on earth”.1 Since the 1960’s Mexican-American artists have continued the tradition of mural art and have been greatly influenced by the legendary Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Siquieros.

The goal of this proposed project is to archive and make available to students, researchers, ethnographers, artists, architects, and anyone else with an interest in cross-cultural and U.S./Mexican border culture issues: the Chicano murals in Tucson, Arizona. It is designed to record both the art and cultural-political text of the Chicano people. The focus will be on the non-government sponsored, spontaneous, murals of Tucson as well as their creators.

The scope of the project will include interviews with area artists both new and established such as Tanya Alvarez and Ruben Moreno among others, photos and movies of murals in film and digital format capturing the mural and its’ environment, placement. This information can then be looked at and studied by interested people the world over, thus furthering cross-cultural understanding and encouraging artists to see their work as having a part in global art. The murals are located in schools, parks, community centers, housing projects, electrical substations, churches, private residences, bakeries, restaurants, grocery stores; indeed anywhere there is a blank wall, an artist, and some paint.

1 CARA Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, Richard Griswold del Castillo, Teresa McKenna, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano eds., Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991.