Our Community Our Family Mural Analysis

Albuquerque has various mural. They are all unique and they all have a different story. The mural that I will be analyzing is called “Our Community Our Family”. It is located in Kirtland Park on university Blvd. the mural was designed by Leah Lee and Joe Stephenson, the artist assistant was Leticia Thompson and it was painted with students from Lowell elementary school, Wilson middle school and Albuquerque high school as well as other volunteers. It was painted in April of 1996.
At first glance the mural can be a lot to take in at once. The paint covers every inch of a concrete wall. The wall is very long and it runs through one of the parking areas of
Kirtland Park and Thomas Bell community center. It goes along approximately twenty parking

spaces and it continues along the road. Because of the length, the mural can be viewed differently depending on where one stands or parks. From each area the mural showcases paintings of things such as people, trees, flowers, buildings, a playground and symbols such as flags, school mascots and scrolls with names.
Although throughout the whole mural the background is constant. In the background we see sunny blue skies on the top portion and brown colors on the bottom that appears as sand or dirt. The different colors used in the different items contrast and complement with the blue paint as well as the brown paint. The colors used make the mural visible from a distance.
The lines that the artist used are very defined lines. An example of the defined lines are the outlines on the tree trunks, the people’s clothing and the buildings. Although the artist also used expressive lines on things such as people’s faces. Classical lines are used in the names and information written on the mural.
Altogether the mural has a two dimensional look. The lines and the colors used cause the mural to have a figurative look. The images don’t look very realistic but they are clear representations of different things and people.
The meaning of the mural is hard to understand from one single perspective due to the length. I analyzed the images one by one, then I put them all together. I then realized that the mural as a whole makes timeline.
In the first part of the mural there is a cloud that says “In the Beginning God Created…” then it goes on to paintings of ancient masks, rock paintings, royal figures, an Ashanti Doll, a Tutankhamen and a Mayan Burial Figure.

This seems to be a representation of the world creating. The mural then has an image of the Original neighborhood Store on university and Gerald as well as the mascots of Albuquerque high School Bulldogs and the University of New Mexico lobos. Although the store is not there no more, the schools are important to the community because it is where students from Kirtland community would go to. In the mural, these buildings represents the beginning of this community.
To further represent the beginning of the community the mural goes on to an image of Tom Bell. Although I am not sure what important things he did in the community, I do know that he was important because the community center was named after him. Next to his image there is a tree that says “Kirtland Community”. This tree represents the community in a geographic way. In each branch a street name is written. The branches come together at the trunk and crate Kirtland just like the streets come together on University

Blvd.
Next to the tree we see images of people who helped in civil rights movements such as Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parkes, Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I believe that they were an important part of the community mural because many of the Kirtland residents are African Americans and Mexicans. Without these leaders, the lives of these residents could have been different. Not only does the mural show Civil Rights leaders but it also has the names of every president of the Kirtland neighborhood association. Throughout the years, the presidents of the Kirtland community have made sure to keep the community safe with neighborhood crime watch. They have also made sure that the community as a whole is content with decisions that affect the residents. They also plan get togethers in order for the community to maintain unity. Next to these leaders names there is an image of four flags including the Ghana flag, the Canadian flag, the United States flag, and the Mexican flag. Although the meaning of the flags is not as clear, the flags could be a representation of the community residents’ roots. Roots are also showed in the next image. In this image we see Bobby Foster, he was an Albuquerque high school student who then became a light heavyweight champion. He fought from 1960 to 1978. He is a Kirtland community pride.
Next to this champion there is an image of a sand timer with legs. It looks like this image is a metaphor for time is running. It is running in a direction towards industries that cause a lot of pollution in the air. Then on top of the smoke, there is a sign that says “education not degradation”. There’s also sings for no drugs and no guns. On the bottom of the smoke there is a women crying over a grave. There is also a weird creator walking away with a dollar bill. I believe this part of the mural represents a dark time in the neighborhood such as an economic issue because of the symbols and dark colors. It could have been something like the great depression. As the smoke ends the light starts to shine and there is an image of an eye looking over on what appears to be a parade. The leaders of the parade are carrying a banner that says “UNITE NOW FOR A BETTER TOMMOROW” as well as a New Mexican flag. It seems like the parade is the light at the end of the tunnel after the dark moments witch leads to the Kirtland community.
It is obvious that it is Kirtland because there are paintings of the community church, gym and playground.

Next to the playground there is a giant tree that has words such as creating, advancement, communication, abundance, prayer, responsibilities, caring, family, peace, effort and many others. Under the tree there is a community of people celebrating graduations with a cookout, some reading the bible, others having a family picnic and kids playing. All this is a representation of the Kirtland community spirit and unity. The mural then ends with an eagle and the moon. Since the mural ends with the moon it seems like the message is that the community can have dark days but at the end of the day everything gets

better.
“Our Community Our Family” is a figurative mural with clear representations of the Kirtland communities Buildings, people and spirit. Some history is also portrayed throughout mural since it looks like a timeline. Because of everything that is portrayed I think that the mural is an important part of Kirtland community. It is the communists representation.