DENVER — When a group of Denver students told Diego Florez they wanted to paint a mural about remembering the past and hoping for the future, he asked them to envision the idea with all five senses.
“Smell the future, taste the past, listen to both of them,” Florez told them. He is an artist, activist and first-generation American.
Once the group of 25 students from 6th to 12th grades in the Denver area wrote down their observations and ideas, Florez helped the group outline a design. The mural was part of Convivir Colorado's "immigrant impact" summer program. Convivir Colorado is a nonprofit that hosts a leadership program for immigrant, refugee, and first generation kids in the state.
Now plastered onto what was formerly a blank wall at 3264 Larimer Street, the group painted a serpent (representing a legacy of renewal), a chain-link fence (representing sacrifice for a better life), interwoven DNA of "Ancestral Power" (representing humanity without borders) and blooming flowers (representing hopes and dreams of a free future).
Florez said each part of the mural represents elements of the immigration journeys for the students and their families, as well as the balance of maintaining two cultures and identities.
“We want people to remember that even the DNA they have within themselves is a representation of their entire lineage,” Florez said. “Our ancestors are able to see the world that we have established and that we are living in through our eyes and through our very blood and make-up."
The mural hits close to home for Florez, whose mother was deported when he was 15 years old.
