New mural at westside Atlanta park honors Latin American changemaker in Atlanta
ATLANTA - One of Atlanta's parks in the westside is now home to a new mural thank in part to the Savannah College of Art and Design. SCAD has been beautifying parks across the city with its SCAD SERVE Paint Our Parks public art initiative. The most recent installation is a tribute to a Latin American Atlanta changemaker.
Flowers, colors, and bold designs surround Sara J. Gonzalez Memorial Park in Northwest Atlanta. Jose Rey is the artist behind the project.
"It already had an organic flow to the park so to just tie into that and a lot of those bold colors that really reflect that Hispanic culture and heritage," Rey told Good Day's Lindsay Tuman.
Rey is a SCAD graduate. His goal for the project was to reflect the rich Hispanic culture that helps shape the park.
"It was very important to feature and kind of showcase that Hispanic heritage honoring that, because this is the first park in Georgia named after a Hispanic citizen." he explained.
Sara J. Gonzalez was the president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She helped create the Hispanic Caucus at the State Capitol, created Hispanic Day at the Capitol, and helped create the first Hispanic American Center for Economic Development.
Isabel Gonzalez Whitaker is her daughter.
"This is a culturally affirming piece of art. And it's a piece of art that's going to endure and live on, again living out her legacy is creating access to beautiful things to an entire community." she said.
Sara J. Gonzalez's granddaughter, Paulina De La Vallette, another SCAD graduate, helped design the mural.
"It was really great to meet Jose, to work with him, to walk through the park and tell him a little bit about my grandmother. I brought pieces like this scarf, because she would wear scarves like this, necklaces, she always looked like she had somewhere to be so." De La Vallette said.
"So, we have some parts of the park looking like a folding fan. The main area of the park looking kind of like a pendant with these organic floral shapes that kind of represent a necklace or a pendant and I just kind of like that," Rey said.
They got the installation done in about ten days. They had help, not only from the SCAD SERVE team, but also from the community.
"Through the day when we were working there would be a few people coming through. But when school would let our we would get allof the families coming through and there would be little kids poking around, and I would say come over here and draw a leaf." Rey said.
Gonzalez's daughter and granddaughter say the mural is a reflection of the bright, vibrant woman she was.
"It warms my heart every time I step foot in this park. We are giving families and children a safe clean place to play and to be and giving opportunities to enhance and enrich their lives." Gonzalez Whitaker said.
"So, it's really nice to be able to bring that to the park because the park felt like it was hers. But now she's here. We have dressed here and now she's here." De La Vallette said.
This is the seventh park from SCAD's Paint Our Parks initiative. The public art program was created in partnership with the Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation and the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs.