‘There’s a fear now’: Mural project sending a message in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – An artist and college professor in Fresno is inviting community members to participate in an artistic, interactive protest while sharing the stories of 21 immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

Assistant Professor at Baruch College, Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, says her latest mural project will be painted in and displayed in the Central Valley.

In the summer of 2024, Santana’s mural project was partially in Fresno and San Diego and ultimately displayed on the Mexican border. The mural featured QR codes that told the stories of veterans deported from the United States.

Now, Santana says she’s working on completing a bi-coastal mural that tells the story of people who were brought to the United States as children. The mural features QR codes that people watching the exhibition can scan to hear the stories of the mural’s subjects told by the subjects themselves.

To finish the mural, Santana says she’s calling on the community for help and solidarity.

“How do you express yourself when everyone is encouraging you to stay silent?” Santana said. “It’s just passing it down and like making sure that people see the value in art, especially during this type of administration.”

Santana says President Trump’s rhetoric has caused undocumented people to feel targeted. She says she only selected people who felt comfortable sharing their stories publicly for the mural project.

People like Angel Barragan recount falling asleep in Tijuana and waking up in California.

“That was how mi sueño Americano [American dream] began in 2002,” Barragan said. “Sin papeles, without papers.”

In Barragan’s testimony, he says he faced challenges like every other undocumented childhood arrival. But being undocumented never derailed him until he was denied financial aid, though he was accepted to every college he applied to.

Santana says sharing stories like Barragan’s is important.

“There’s a fear now with this rhetoric of even citizens being targeted for deportation,” Santana said. “We don’t know what the future is going to look like and four years is four years. It’s pretty long time.”

Santana says anyone in the community who’d like to participate in the completion of the murals can join in and paint the murals alongside her and other volunteers.

Painting days for the mural will be held at Fresno City College on May 28 and at My Homie’s Kitchen in Downtown Fresno from May 29 through June 3.

For more information on specific dates and times, anyone hoping to participate in the mural project can RSVP at the link here.

The mural installation will be shown at My Homie’s Kitchen for June’s ArtHop on June 5 and then at Fulton Studios for a grand Juneteenth Celebration.