Muralist Emanuel Martínez shifts focus to restorations efforts

• He tells us he's focused on ensuring his past work remains intact, and plans to add a protective coating to his mural at Mestizo-Curtis Park, called "Eyes on the Park," which he completed in 1971.

What they're saying: "Our priority is to try and save the old ones, before they get too bad," Martínez tells us.

By the numbers: He's been tremendously prolific since 1960 — he painted his first mural at age 13 at a juvenile detention center — and has completed roughly 100 murals in Colorado and across the country, including in states like California and Texas.

• Just a few weeks shy of his 76th birthday, he says he has no plans yet to retire.

State of play: You've likely seen Martínez's work, which are landmarks in the neighborhoods where they are painted.

• These include "Confluent People" in the underpass at Speer Boulevard which he finished in 1999, and "La Alma," the towering work hovering over La Alma-Lincoln Park in West Denver, which he completed in 1978.

Between the lines: His work often links and celebrates Chicano culture to its Indigenous roots.

• His subjects often look like the people living in the neighborhoods where he paints, mainly Chicanos and Mexican-Americans.

Of note: "La Alma" remains Martínez's favorite work, he tells us, because it embodies a common theme among his pieces, which he says he tries to make uplifting.

• The mural was completed with help from local children and covers a wall outside La Alma Recreation Center.