Kickstarter

Please help us give the gift of public murals to the elders of Berkeley!

Please help us to raise funds for the permanent installation of ten monumental ceramic murals that I have created for Satellite Senior Housing's Helios Corner Project in West Berkeley. In 2004, I began the site specific works for their anticipated low-income senior housing project for the corner of University Avenue and Sacramento Street,  a series of 2' x 11' and 2' x 8' ceramic bas relief murals for the facade of the now-completed building. I worked for four years to design and fabricate the panels, and finished them in June of 2008. Since then, they have been sitting in boxes in a basement at one of Satellite's facilities, waiting for installation. Satellite has limited funds for the project, and we still need $5,000 to complete the installation of the panels on the exterior walls of the building.

The meaning of the works is stated eloquently in the poetry of Berkeley elder poet Rafael Jesús Gonzalez, from his piece Huehuetlatolli: The Wisdom of Elders, which was a key inspiration for my murals. Here is a selection of one of his verses:                        

Huehuetlatolli for Juana Alicia’s Satellite Elders’ Housing Project
...Mensaje de sabiduría:
Escucha bien:lo más importantees saber amar.
Listen well:the most important thingis to know how to love.
Anciana a la joven:
La belleza, hija,viene del corazón.
Beauty, daughter,comes from the heart...
© Rafael Jesús González 2007

As the poetry expresses, the murals honor our nature and the natural world from which we come. They portray the five elements: air, water, fire, earth and the souI, with images of elder men and women speaking to young men and women. The human images emerge from the earth motif. This particular project has the goal of creating artworks at a grassroots level to promote environmental justice in underserved neighborhoods. This is a sustainable architecture program which serves low-income seniors. Although I was paid for creating the murals, it saddens me to have them languishing in boxes. Funds will pay the workers to install the panels on ten columns, facing both the street and an interior courtyard, visible from the street. It is my strong desire to see this work completed and given to the City of Berkeley's low-income seniors and community at large. Thank you for helping us meet our goal. 

Juana Alicia