New Community Mural to be Unveiled at Mission Branch Library May 13

You are invited to take part in the unveiling of a new community-driven, indoor mural at the Oceanside Public Library’s Mission Branch, located at 3861 Mission Ave. on Saturday, May 13 at 2:00 p.m. The Library will host a reception with the muralist, members of the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Mission Indians, and the public to celebrate the mural. This past March, a series of workshops highlighted traditional Luiseño stories, and teaching artists worked with the Oceanside community to visually represent the stories. These visual representations informed the final piece created by muralist Gibran Isaias Lopez, and will be on view for the first time on May 13.

Oceanside is on the traditional territory of the Payómkawichum people, also known as Luiseño. The San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Mission Indians has kept its identity as a people within local communities that now exist on ancestral tribal lands, in the immediate areas surrounding the Mission San Luis Rey. Today the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Indians faces challenges in saving and preserving what remains of their cultural past, and in creating and sharing its heritage with future generations to come. This project is meant to honor their past and future.

Muralist Gibran Isaias Lopez is a Southern California muralist, currently living in North County San Diego. He is a speaker, author and workshop facilitator on the subjects of introspection, personal development, spiritual well-being, creativity, and team building. He is an intuitive artist that uses art to heal and grow. He is a teaching artist with the Library’s Art for Older Adults program and has created murals throughout the US and locally, including at Jefferson Middle School in Oceanside and at the Cross-Cultural Center at Cal State University San Marcos. He creates his murals by working with the community that will experience the space and incorporates their ideas into the work.

Support for this program is provided by The Oceanside Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library. The Oceanside Public Library aims to empower the community by promoting literacy, information access, civic engagement, cultural inclusiveness and openness to new ideas. Visit www.oceansidepubliclibrary.org for more info about Library programs and services or www.oceansidelibraryfoundation.org to find out more about the Foundation.