A new mural is in the process of being painted in downtown Laramie in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The artist Jodie Herrera was selected to paint the mural because her work is based around social justice, the representation of minorities, and telling the stories of women.
The creation of the mural was very intentional, with the idea for it being conjured by a committee of six female Latinx community members within Laramie who are hoping to see their culture being more represented in the community.
“I thought that was extremely thoughtful and made me want to work with them because it was so intentional,” Herrera said, “they wanted a matriarch to be a woman, because usually in Latinx culture, the matriarch plays a huge role in our communities and is really the glue that holds our families together.”
The mural, which is full of Latinx cultural symbolism, will hopefully fill the Laramie Hispanic community with a heightened sense of belonging, and shed light on their culture to non-Hispanic members who may not know much about what their culture is.
“It’s saying to remember, as living in the present, that you have to remember your ancestors as well as the children that are coming into the future.” Herrera said, “It shows that we have to grow and we have to grow with intention and create space for equity, diversity, belonging. As well as remembering our past and our present, our past and our future.”
Students around campus and in Laramie are excited to see more Latinx representation around town, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Sarina Garnica, who recently graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s in Sociology, said, “I think that the Latinx community is not generally well-represented on campus or in Laramie in general, I think overall there is just a general lack of visibility of Hispanic persons at the University and in the Laramie community.”
Garnica mentioned that some good ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage this month is by making efforts to learn more about Latinx history and by supporting Latinx artists.
“It’s wonderful to see opportunities being made for the Latinx community,” Garnica said, “it is really validating to see them being represented through art in Laramie.”
