Chicano Park

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" La Soldadera ". Behind a picture with Frida Kahlo and a picture of the Virgen de Guadalupe

Chicano Park is a park around the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan , California . The park covers an area of ​​7.9  acres (3  hectares ) and is predominantly used by Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants from San Diego . The park houses the largest collection of outdoor murals (72 " murals ") in the country, as well as various sculptures , earthworks, and an architectural object dedicated to the community's cultural heritage. Because of the size and historical significance of the murals, the park was listed as a Historic Monument by the San Diego Historical Site Board in 1980 . The images have been recognized as public art (San Diego Public Advisory Board, 1987). The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 . The connection with the Chicano civil rights movement was particularly pointed out. On December 23, 2016, it was classified as a National Historic Landmark . The Chicano Park was how, for example, the People's Park of Berkeley , the result of a militant but nonviolent land occupation. Every year on April 22nd, the community celebrates the anniversary of the occupation, known as Chicano Park Day .

origin

The area was originally called the East End and was renamed Logan Heights in 1905 . The first Mexican settlers arrived there as early as the 1890s and soon afterwards came a wave of refugees who fled the Mexican Revolution . Over time, the area was nicknamed Barrio Logan .

The original administrative unit extended to San Diego Bay and provided access to the sea for local residents. That changed with the outbreak of World War II , when the United States Navy built various military installations on the coast. This loss led to initial dissatisfaction among local residents with the government and its representatives.

Dissatisfaction grew in the 1950s when the area was advertised as a mixed residential and industrial area as part of town planning. Cheap shops and workshops sprang up in the barrio , causing air pollution , noise and dirt. In addition, the barrio was divided by Interstate 5 in 1963 and defaced again in 1969 when the feeder bridges to the San Diego-Coronado Bridge were built .

At the time, it was normal for Mexicans not to be included in the discussions affecting their residential areas and there were no officials to represent them. Therefore, no official complaint was made. However, that changed with the civil rights movement. Various movements rallied around the Chicano Movement , such as the Movement for the Right to Collective Bargaining ( César Chávez & Dolores Huerta , United Farm Workers ), the right to full benefits for veterans ( Hector P. Garcia , American GI Forum ), the right for equal education ( MEChA , Plan de Santa Barbara ), for the rights of Mexicans guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and for the justice of land distributions and bilingual education under Reies Tijerina , as well as for the recognition of the historical contributions of Mexican Americans and the recognition of Mexican culture. At the same time, political vigilance and willingness to get involved in Barrio Logan also grew.

Residents had long since asked for a park and the city administration had also promised to set up a park as compensation for the loss of more than 5,000 houses and companies that had to make way for the construction of the road and bridge. In June 1969 the park was officially confirmed and a site planned, but nothing was done to advance the project.

The cast (takeover)

On April 22, 1970 came the occasion that led to the scandal. On his way to school, San Diego City College resident Mario Solis watched bulldozers parked on the area adjacent to the area designated for the park. He was also a member of the Brown Berets and asked what work should be done. He was shocked to find out that the workers should build a parking lot in place of the park and that a California Highway Patrol building should be built there.

Solis went door to door to get the word out and alerted the students in Professor Gil Robledo's Chicano Studies class . They printed leaflets to attract more attention to what was happening. At noon on the same day, Mexican-American high school students left their classes to demonstrate with people from the neighborhood against the buildings. Some protesters formed human chains around the bulldozers while others planted trees, flowers and cacti. It is said that Solis instructed a bulldozer to level the ground for planting. In addition, a was flag of Aztlán hoisted on a telephone pole, a sign of a symbolic reclaiming land that had once belonged to Mexico and the Mexican people now origin was reclaimed.

Many young people took part in the demonstration. When more than 250 people demonstrated, the construction team was called back. The occupation lasted for 12 days while community members and city officials negotiated the creation of the park. During this time supporters from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara also came to show their solidarity. The negotiations were determined by the fact that the community did not trust the city administration and a Chicano Park Steering Committee had to be created, which requested the demonstrators to evacuate and posted posters about the project, but also threatened that the occupation would continue, should the negotiations fail.

At a meeting on April 23, Salvador Torres came up with the idea of ​​decorating the pillars of the motorway entrance with fine art and creating a green belt that should extend to the sea. The young artist had just graduated from the California College of the Arts in Oakland . He is considered "the architect of the dream." (Architect of the Dream) Finally, on July 1, 1970, $ 21,814.96 was allocated to set up the park on 1.8 acre (7,300 m²) grounds.

layout

The design of the park actually began with minor landscaping on the day of the occupation. The wall paintings that were to make the park famous, however, were only created from 1973 onwards. Guillermo Aranda , Mario Acevedo , Victor Ochoa , Tomas Castaneda and others had already painted the retaining walls and pylons for the first time in 1970 . Most of the time it was the artists themselves or their support organizations who raised the money to clean the walls, to prime and buy the paint they needed. Victor Ochoa , a co-founder of the Chicano Park Steering Committee , says he got 300 brushes himself on March 23, 1973, and then nearly 300 people came together to help paint the whole weekend. The Centro Cultural de la Raza in San Diego's Balboa Park served as a training ground for many of the wall painters. Non-Chicanos like Michael Schnorr also contributed to the design. The first group of murals took almost two years to complete. Ultimately, a core of 16 artists formed who completed the murals, including the Royal Chicano Air Force .

The murals address immigration, the women's movement and historical civil rights movements . In 1978 a "Mural Marathon" was held, which lasted from April 1st to April 22nd. During this time approximately 10,000 square feet (929 m²) were painted. In the course of time, a cactus garden was also created. The park was enlarged in parts because the master plan proposed by the artists was not adopted by the city administration. Nevertheless, the park almost reaches the coast today (“all the way to the bay”, battle cry of a campaign from 1980). Three blocks separate it from the Cesar E. Chávez Waterfront Park, which was established in 1987 and completed in 1990, which finally gave public access to the beach.

On April 24th, 2010 the 40th Anniversary Celebration could be celebrated in Chicano Park. The theme was: " 40 Años de la Tierra Mía: Aquí Estamos y No Nos Vamos ." (40 years of our country: here we are and we will not go.)

In 2014, a 24 m (80 ft) sign was unveiled and lighting was installed.

Restoration work

Restoration work began in 1984 and is ongoing. A major restoration was scheduled for 2012, involving many of the original artists.

Arguments

Chicano Park has been a point of contention since its inception. There were disputes within the community as to who can outsource the painting work, which pictures can be created and who is responsible for the entertainment. The conflicts between the community and the offices were much more serious. There were also conflicts with Anglo-American residents.

  • In 1979 a grand jury in San Diego ruled that the Chicano Federation had to vacate the park building.
  • The request for a kiosk ( Chicano Park kiosko ) based on the Mexican model was only fulfilled in 1977 after a long bureaucratic effort. The kiosk was built in the style of a Maya temple.
  • "Barrios Sí, Yonkes No" was an initiative to convert the neighborhood into a residential area and to drive out the junk dealers, who then damaged some paintings, especially the painting entitled "Barrio Sí, Yonkes No "painting. ([yonkes = junkyards] is the name for the scrap dealers).
  • In the 1990s, the California Transportation Authority, Caltrans , decided to rebuild the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge to make it earthquake- proof. The community feared that the paintings could be destroyed and therefore mobilized to stop the construction work until a compromise could be negotiated.
  • In 2003 a renovation plan was thrown out because Caltrans was bothered by the word "Aztlán" that had been a stone sculpture in the park for years. They considered this to be a militant act and saw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , Item 4, affected because it gave preference to Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Ultimately, Director Pedro Orso approved the $ 600,000 monies after consulting the Federal Highway Administration and various civil rights specialists.
  • Another point of contention are communist motifs, including portraits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara , as well as quotes from Salvador Allende and Hồ Chí Minh ( tío Ho = Uncle Ho).

Anniversary Days

Every year on April 22nd, the anniversary of the occupation is celebrated. Concerts are held in the park, as well as ballet folklore , lowrider exhibitions and art workshops.

  • Motto of the 40th anniversary: 40 Aňos de la Tierra Mía: Aquí Estamos y No Nos Vamos
  • 43rd Anniversary Motto: Chicano Park: Aztlan's Jewel & National Chicano Treasure
  • 44th anniversary motto: La Tierra Es De Quien La Trabaja : The Land Belongs To Those Who Work It

use

Many different events are held in the park. Among other things, several groups meet there to practice Aztec dance.

Quotes

"The takeover of that land underneath the bridge in the barrio, that was a political expression. That was an expression of the community saying, 'Hey, we're not going to take it anymore. We're going to decide what's going to happen with this land. ' And out of that political expression came cultural expression. " - German: "The occupation of land under the bridge in the barrio was a political means of expression. It was the expression of a community that says: 'Hey, we no longer carry this. We will decide what should happen to this land.' And cultural expression emerged from political expression. " - Veronica Enrique

"The community spirit and pent-up energy exploded in free, uncomposed murals of bright color." - German: The community spirit and the pent-up energy exploded in free, unaffected wall paintings with bright colors. "- Victor Ochoa

gallery

  • Outhouses.

  • Korean tourists.

  • Chicano Park Mural.

  • Virgin of Guadalupe among the people.

  • "All the way to the Bay"

  • Chicano Park icons - portraits

  • Emiliano Zapata with an English translation of a famous saying ("I rather die on my feet than live on my knees"), German "I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees")

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Original Artists Work to Restore Chicano Park Murals. Bill Manson In: San Diego Reader 2012-07-04.
  2. ↑ a b c Tomas Ybarra-Frausto: Califas: Socio-Aesthetic Chronology of Chicano Art. Unpublished Manuscript: 9–10 [1] April 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b Vanessa Herrera: Lights Turn on in Chicano Park . In: NBC 7 San Diego , August 31, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 
  4. ↑ [2]
  5. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: California. National Park Service , accessed July 29, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Philip Brookman: El Centro Cultural de la Raza, Fifteen Years . In: Philip Brookman (ed.): Made in Aztlan . Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego, California 1986, ISBN 0-938461-00-1 , pp. 19-21, 38-43.
  7. ↑ a b c Brent Beltran: New Chicano Park Muralists Are Honored to Paint in the Park . In: San Diego Free Press , April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 
  8. ^ The Takeover of Chicano Park . San Diego State University. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ a b c d Kevin Delgado: A Turning Point: The Conception and Realization of Chicano Park . In: Journal of San Diego History . 44, No. 1, winter 1998.
  10. ↑ a b c d Megan Burke: Celebrating Chicano Park's 40th Anniversary . In: KPBS , April 22, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 
  11. ↑ a b c d Frank Gormlie: Victor Ochoa - Mural Maestro of Chicano Park . In: San Diego Free Press , April 26, 2013. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 1, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sandiegofreepress.org 
  12. ↑ a b Guide to the Salvador Roberto Torres Papers . In: UC Santa Barbara Library . Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  13. ↑ Victor Ochoa . Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  14. ↑ a b Eva Sperling Cockcroft; Holly Barnet-Sanchez; Shifra M. Goldman (ed.): Signs from the Heart: California Chicano Murals. Venice, California. Social and Public Art Resource Center 1990. ISBN 0-9626419-0-1 How, Why, Where and When it All Happened: Chicano Murals of California p. 52.
  15. ↑ a b Marissa Cabrera: Barrio Logan Celebrates Murals, Chicano Park's 43rd Anniversary . In: KPBS , April 16, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 
  16. ^ Dagny Salas: Touching Up a Revolution in Chicano Park . In: Voice of San Diego , January 9, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 
  17. ^ Olympia Andrade Beltran: Drums Beat at the Heart of Chicano Park . In: San Diego Free Press , April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2015. 

literature

  • Philip Brookman; Guillermo Gómez-Peña (ed.): Made in Aztlan . San Diego: Tolteca Publications, Centro Cultural de la Raza 1986. ISBN 0-938461-00-1
  • Marilyn Mulford: Chicano Park [videorecording]. Redbird Films 1989.

Web links

Commons : Chicano Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 32 ° 42 ′ 0.6 ″  N , 117 ° 8 ′ 34.8 ″  W.