Restored Latino mural will join Denver's art collection
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
"El Milagro" by David Ocelotl Garcia outside the Bob Ragland Branch Library in Denver. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios
For the second time in three years, local artist David Ocelotl Garcia finds himself restoring one of his massive, colorful Denver murals.
Catch up quick: Garcia completed "El Milagro" — "The Miracle " — in 2021 outside the Bob Ragland Branch Library, at the RiNo ArtPark, as an homage to another local institution, the Tepeyac Community Health Center.
Yes, but: The mural was painted over last year during Denver Walls festival, leading to a restoration effort that's nearing completion.
- Garcia told Denverite he thought the piece was permanent, though RiNo Art District organizers noted it had a three-year life span under city Parks and Recreation guidelines
State of play: Garcia told us plans are underway for a celebration, including dancing and a blessing ceremony, likely in mid-November.
- Once finished, the piece will be a permanent part of Denver's public art collection.
The intrigue: Chicano/a Murals of Colorado Project founder Lucha Martinez de Luna told Denverite the incident represents "a lack of awareness and respect" for murals that help to create civic pride.
What they're saying: Garcia doesn't seem fazed by the restoration, which will take about seven weeks and cost up to $60,000.
- "More than anything, you realize how much people are connected with this, because it belongs to the community — I paint these, but they're not mine at all," Garcia told us while working on the mural this week.
Context: The 100-foot mural visualizes the work the clinic, which serves low-income patients, has provided to the community.
- Its name and the art itself allude to the Miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose story is revered in Mexican and Mexican-American cultures.
If you go: The mural can be viewed along the library's wall on 35th Street.
