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Colorful Seeds of Change in Chaparral

By Rebecca Wiggins

The first thing you notice from the road is the color. Bright orange mountains over layers of desert landscape easily catch the eye. The sun is shining against a bright blue sky, and a few flowers are beginning to bloom in a largely desolate scene. Yet, it is clear this will all soon change as a whimsical figure sitting on top of a blue bird tosses seeds down from the sky to generate new growth in the desert.

These seeds of change are being sewn in Chaparral, N.M. A group of local youths hired to work on a project funded by the Youth Conservation Corps of New Mexico are busy working to drastically change the landscape on a small plot in their community. Since January, 2009, the youths have built a greenhouse, have grown seedlings to share with community members and planted their own section of fruits and vegetables in the youth garden. Now they are adding colorful paints to express to passersby the reason behind their hard work.

The purpose of the project is for the youths to learn about food systems and production while exploring food justice issues in Chaparral, and to share this knowledge of cultivation with community members. With all available spaces now planted, the youths are working to artistically communicate their project and cultural heritage by painting a mural on the garden tool shed. Las Cruces artist Cassandra Lockwood is heading the venture, helping the young workers organize their ideas and express the project’s goals by using colorful paints.

“The children are making something visible in their community as a symbol of their project,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood, who has studied contemporary art and the history of the U.S.-Mexico border, said it is important for young people to be exposed to art and to learn to be creative on their own territory.

“It instills a sense of pride when they create something,” Lockwood stated, “and too many kids these days are missing out on great opportunities to express themselves.” Many schools do not provide art classes, Lockwood explained, and young people are not always provided with healthy opportunities and activities that open their minds.

YCC crew leader Karina Johnson has watched the Chaparral youths become more confident and at ease with the mural.

“In the beginning, no one thought they could draw or paint,” Johnson said. She added that many of the workers were hesitant to even sketch their ideas on paper. “But it is turning out to be a lot of fun,” she said, “and the kids are really getting into it.”

Little by little the theme of the mural emerged, and the group found a way to tell the story of their project using color. The youths decided to incorporate the growth process of plants—from planting seeds and cultivating new sprouts to actually harvesting the fruits of their labor. Each of the four walls of the shed depicts a different stage in the growth cycle and includes symbols that identify the culture and the region in which they live.

“It’s like what we’re doing here in the garden… planting, watering, growing seedlings,” 14-year-old Francisco Yanez of Chaparral, said. “It’s cool—I never thought it would end up like this,” he admitted, adding that his favorite part so far was painting the bird.

On the first day of painting, several residents of Chaparral stopped by the garden site to ask about the project. Johnson, who was painting alongside the youths, said that the mural was definitely attracting people to the project and helping to focus the community’s attention on the garden.

Lockwood, who has worked on several murals, explained that projects like this instill a sense of pride in the whole community. “It gives hope for a community when they see something positive like this,” she said.

The Chaparral youths will continue working on the mural over the next several weeks. Lockwood is also leading the mural for the YCC group working in Anthony, N.M.

To learn more about these projects, contact Aaron Sharratt at aaron@colonias.org. Rebecca Wiggins can be reached at wiggins@nmsu.edu.

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