The Full Story
History of the project:
In 2021, Serrano/Cahuilla Native Rosy Aranda had approached the Eastside Arthouse, a local art studio in Riverside, to inquire about creating a Native mural in Riverside. Unfortunately there was no funding resources at the time. Fast forward 2 years later, upon learning about the Creative Corps grant opportunity and remembering the inquiry Rosy Cortez would reach out to partner with Rosy Aranda to collaborate on the dream mural. Since their approval in June 2023, Rosy Aranda, later joined by Blossom Maciel, have been serving as liaisons to the Native Community to inform and guide the project concept and development, so that it can best represent and reflect local Native communities.
About the Creative Corps grant:
“At its heart, Creative Corps Inland SoCal is about putting artists to work in Inland Southern California and integrating creatives into solutions for issues facing our communities, including health, climate/conservation, social equity, and civic participation.” - CreativeInlandsocal.com
Project Mission:
This project fulfills the grant mission of social justice and community engagement, by encouraging more public art representation of local Native Communities specifically to the Downtown Riverside area. The city of Riverside, and Pá‘Čapa (today known as Mt. Rubidoux) is home to Luiseño, Cahuilla and Serrano Natives. The large scale mural has the ability to engage people of all ages and backgrounds, can serve as a symbol of pride and understanding, as well as be an accessible educational opportunity. It is crucial that we commemorate the stories of the original stewards who have contributed to its development, growth, and culture. The mural will serve as a reminder of their enduring presence and resilience.
Project unfolding:
Combining Rosy Aranda’s background in special effects makeup and Rosy Cortez’s background in photography and murals. They came up with and idea that would merge their skills. The original proposed idea was to have 1 child and 1 elder, to be body painted into the landscape, photographed and then the images would be turned into one large scale mural or two walls next to each other.
The project began with a trial runs of body painting sessions with Native models before working with the official mural models.
One trial run included Blossom Maciel, who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, the photo created would perfectly fit into the visual story and was included in the final mural design.
After final images were chosen and without intention, each person’s gaze also happened to tell the story of past, present and future.
The 3 photos were blended together and hand painted into a mini mock up design. This helped with composition, color and painting process order to give better sense of how to paint the official mural.
The next step was to find and secure the perfect wall. The ideal wall would be 1) large, 2) within a 3 mile radius of Pá‘Čapa (Mt. Rubidoux) Mountain, 3) have easy painting surface, 4) no obstructions, 5) lot near by for a mural reception.
The dream wall was found! However, it was county owned, so it would take time and effort to find the appropriate contacts and to acquire the right permissions to be able to paint it on the property. The project was green lit and all signatures were acquired just in time before summer hit. More Progress photos here
Painting began May 1st and took 26 days to complete. Work force consisted of Rosy Cortez, hired assistants and volunteers from mostly Native backgrounds . A welcoming ceremony was held on June 23rd, 2024 accompanying a special screening of Pá'Čapa Documentary.
