Murals - 12/11 Olga - Describ. Lawndale Bank

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December 11th, Olga describing Lawndale mural.

Did you hear the snap on the mic? Not very good.

Let's do it again.

You better do it once again.

December 11th, Olga describing Lawndale mural.

Okay, just a minute.

Let me get us totally ...

Now you're going to talk to Susan to finish this.

Okay, wait a minute now.

Tell me about this mural.

What I want to tell you is just some of the associations, the thoughts that come to me when I look at it.

The first thing that strikes me just looking at it, for example, is my vision gets drawn to the center figure, which is that of a man, but he looks more like an Indian.

Just the features being angular and strong.

That's the other thing that hits me is that it's a very strong ...

You get a sense of strength in that face, a sense of dignity.

I'm not sure if that's the right word, but just the strength and that it's not a ...

It's an open face.

There are profiles on the side which make me think that this is a person that was just, has been looking at different directions, but right now, in an open manner, is drawing the viewer to the center.

In this particular mural, the things that come to mind are just the different symbols.

In general, I would say the theme of what it's trying to say or communicate to those that see it is one, a sense of openness, two, a sense of unity, and third, a sense of purpose.

The goal being that somehow, through education, which then again, as this mural opens up and the lines of the painting give it that sense of openness, it forces you to look at the someone who's graduating, the sign that says clearly says university, so it's suggesting again, through this process of education, you will then reach a center which is profile as a pyramid.

At the top of the stairs, you reach success or somehow.

That's, I think, what it's trying to convey.

I find interesting that along with some old symbols of success, of glory, which is the pyramid for Mexicans like myself, you have some other structures that suggest the possibility of success in this period of time, in this place, in this new home, which would be Chicago.

So you see the structures in the background of familiar buildings in Chicago, like the Marina City, I think that's the Hancock, and other buildings in downtown area.

And of course, I find that amusing that they include the Longdale Bank, of course.

But all structures that again, are symbol of home, but not only of a successful kind of place, of a good, strong kind of place as opposed to anything else.

The other thing that's interesting is, and which suggests to me the sense of openness together as a community, we will succeed, is the figure of the Statue of Liberty, which to everybody, every immigrant knows that what it means is that you're welcome.

This is the figure that welcomes you into this place, which you try to make your home.

And another interesting feature, again, the superimposition of symbols forces you to think about a past, and also at the present time, or the present time simultaneously.

What I found curious is how by painting it with the sort of yellow rays emanating from the figure of the Statue of Liberty, it connects it with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which if you would look at one, again you will see that these rays of yellow coming out, which again give it a sense of that aura, the aura of goodness, of strength, of power, but also of, how could I put it, something that is good as opposed to something that may be threatening.

And so that it makes the Statue of Liberty by sort of juxtaposing in your mind those images even more welcoming than you would otherwise see it.

Do you see anything in here that reflects your own experience? I think what I see and I find moving is the progression.

I almost feel that part of what's happening within this mural is something that has happened in my own life.

I believe those themes.

I grew up with the themes that if you work hard enough and you studied, you could succeed.

And I think part of my own lifetime that by following that unspoken, unwritten sort of message and proceeding and making a choice through education indeed I have reached, quote, heights that I never thought would be possible, at least that my parents didn't think were possible in their lifetime.

So it's, this is, I guess, the mural communicates that message to those who see it.

Work hard enough, work together.

Again, the theme of togetherness is there, which in other murals you won't find.

And I think the earlier ones you would find a theme of we're not accepted, we're oppressed, maybe we could work together.

This states clearly we can.

You see other different people with different color skins and it's being together and looking towards the future, which by all indications is supposed to be successful.

I just want to go around and get, if you could kind of point toward it the way you were again as if you were describing it to us.

The, I guess the other thing I would like to say about it is that the way it also ties or brings about a sense of community and a sense of this being home is again through the juxtaposition of old and new images.

With even the human figures, particularly the ones on the left, looking like modern Hispanics here in Chicago, but that central figure, more reminiscent of a peahus, again very reminiscent of an Indian figure.

The pose, the pyramid in the middle, again it speaks to a glorious past and probably a glorious future.

This is really a very optimistic mural I would say.

It has less of that sense of conflict that some of the other ones have.

This one for sure says we are working together and we will be successful together through education and openness.

And those are kind of the themes that I believed and I followed and indeed have resulted in success in my own life.

And those are the themes that I hope the younger generation believes and uses in setting their own goals.

Identifier

F.2021-10-0032

Date Of Production

December 11 1988

Abstract

Psychiatrist Olga Nuño talks about the symbolism in a mural by Vicente Mendoza on the side of the former Lawndale Bank at W 26th St and S Homan Ave in Little Village. This footage was shot for an unfinished documentary about the visual language of murals in Chicago's Hispanic communities.

Format

16mm

Color

Color

Sound

Silent

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Notes

The digital representation attached to this record consists of a 16mm negative picture element (F.2021-10-0032) synced with portions of a separate ¼" magnetic audio reel (Dobinsky 095).

Language Of Materials

English

Element

Negatives

Genre

Documentary

Form

Unedited

Subject

Art
Street art
Hispanic Americans

Related Collections

Susan Dobinsky Collection

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago ➜ South Lawndale

Main Credits

Dobinsky, Susan (is co-producer)

Dobinsky, Susan (is filmmaker)

Bayly, Ronn (is co-producer)

Regele, Susan (is co-producer)

Kurtz, Julia (is co-producer)

Participants And Performers

Nuño, Olga (is participant)

Dobinsky, Susan (is participant)

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