IVC showcases mural by Latino artist
This post has been corrected, as noted below.
A library at the Irvine Valley College campus is now home to a mural created by Latino artist Emigdio Vasquez, who died last year.
The 40-foot-long by 8-foot-high mural, known as “La Educacion y El Trabajo,” depicts the faces of workers, teachers and students. Some of the figures are wearing graduation caps, reading a book or holding a microscope.
The artwork’s title translates into “The Education and the Work.” Vasquez completed the piece in 1992.
“The presence of this mural is an affirming hand of inclusion to the Latino students,” said Linda Thomas, an instructor in Irvine Valley’s English department. “In this way, Emigdio’s philosophy and art speak to the mission of the community colleges in California: education is for everyone.”
Vasquez’s son Higgy Vasquez assisted him while he worked on the mural more than two decades ago.
Higgy Vasquez had recently done restoration work on the mural before it was moved into a sky-lighted space in Irvine Valley’s College Library. He applied a protective varnish coating over the whole mural to keep his father’s work intact.
In Vasquez’s lifetime, he created more than 400 paintings and over 20 murals throughout Orange County. This includes “The Legacy of Cesar Chavez” at Santa Ana College and “124 Years of Progress” at Anaheim City Hall.
Much of his work focused on portraying the faces and life of the Chicano working class.
Vasquez died of pneumonia on Aug. 9, 2014, in Newport Beach. He was 75 years old.
Irvine Valley plans to open its library at 3 p.m. Thursday for students, faculty, staff and community members to honor the life work of Vasquez and to view “La Educacion y El Trabajo” in its new home, the library’s main reading area. Special guest appearances also included Higgy Vasquez and the artist’s daughter, Rosemary Vasquez-Tuthill.
For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the exhbit opened to the public on Thursday. In fact, it opens Sept. 24.