The Latino Community, once centered on DC's vibrant Adams Morgan neighborhood, has deep roots, and its branches reach out across the city. From Carlos Salazar's 1970s era Un Pueblo Sin Murales, to Juan Pineda's Welcome to Deanwood, the legacy grows.
LessUn Pueblo Sin Murales Es Un Pueblo Desmuralizado, is the oldest existing street mural in Washington, DC. It was painted in the 1970s in a community effort led by artist Carlos Salazar. The title translates to “A People Without Murals are a Demuralized People.” The mural has witnessed vast changes in the ethnic and economic make-up of this historic neighborhood.
This mural was painted in 2008 by Ryan McDonnell and Manuel Navarette, with students of the CentroNía school. Students participated in a free summer class learning about the art of stencil-work, bubble letters, and hip-hop.
Columbia Heights es: Portraits of Columbia Heights Residents sheds light on the demographic changes in this vibrant and shifting neighborhood. The riots of the 1960s, followed by immigration from Latin America and the recent real estate boom, have each shaped the contours of the community.
Columbia Heights: My Place/Mi Lugar was created in 2013 by Latin American Youth Center students. It is an ode to the sites, sounds, and characters of the neighborhood.
In Felipe's Story, on the BloomBars building, Joel Bergner tells the story of a boy growing up in a Rio de Janeiro favela.
Helina Metaferia and local kids from the Latin American Youth Center created Park View Stories on the side of the Park View Recreation Center in 2011. As with many murals, time and weather took their toll, and in 2019 a fresh batch of LAYC students painstakingly applied a fresh coat of paint to revitalize the mural.
Laya Monarez and Latin American Youth Center students created this graffiti mural, Highway of Life, in the interior courtyard of buildings at the Park View Recreation center.
This series of three long, six foot tall murals, was painted on an expanse of retaining wall on Klingle Road. They were designed by Jorge Luis Somarriba and and painted by members of the Latin American Youth Center between 1988 and 1990. The murals are titled The Youth of the World (1988), A Tribute to Life (1989), and Canto A La Esperanza - "A Chant for Hope" (1990.)
Currulao y Desplazamiento: The Afro-Colombian Mural is dedicated to the displaced people in Colombia's ongoing civil conflict. This 2009 mural was painted by Joel Bergner, with community support.
Juan Pineda created Greetings from Deanwood in 2010.