Lost Valdez mural leads to positive change

La Prensa de San Antonio.- On Tuesday a meeting took place at Burbank High School in response to the removal of a 16-year-old mural painted by former alumni renowned artist, Vincent Valdez. Councilman David Medina Jr., the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) and the City’s Office of Cultural affairs have joined forces to develop a process that will avoid such occurrences in the future for new and existing pieces of art at the schools.

“This mural was a significant piece because it was the work of an artist who attended Burbank High School,” said Councilman Medina. “It’s an unfortunate situation but we’re trying to turn it into a positive one and we’ve done that by coming together and working with the community.”

The Office of Cultural Affairs has already taken action by providing an intern who will be responsible for documenting and creating a database of all the murals and pieces of artwork in the district. “This information will assure that the important pieces of art will not be removed,” added Councilman Medina.

However, the school was in need for a new paint job. “Burbank has not been painted in about 20 years,” said Leslie Price, spokesperson for SAISD. “The person that determined what could and couldn’t be painted over was not aware it was one of Vincent’s works because there was no signature on it, but it was very damaged.”

Price added that from now on, they will be making sure that the history of all the pieces of art is documented accordingly. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t realize whose it was because we did not notify the family and talked to them about it in advance.”

Luckily, Burbank has more of Valdez’ work inside the building, artwork which has been preserved. “We’re making an effort to ensure that we preserve all of Vincent’s work,” stated Price. “Certainly there were some people that were upset to see that mural gone, we understand that and we really do value all of the art in our district.”

To avoid any reoccurring incidents, paintings on walls may now be prohibited. “We are taking a look at canvas or something that can be movable because there really is a need to renovate buildings and it’s going to be difficult to try to maintain something over time,” added Price.

The City of San Antonio’s Office of Cultural Affairs and SAISD have formulated a plan to catalogue and document the murals currently in existence and the new ones to come.

“We know that this is an important thing to our community, especially in District 4, and we are pleased to be able to begin this process so quickly with the help of city experts,” mentioned Adela Segovia, school board representative. “This inventory will not only provide us with a full knowledge of the district’s artwork, but establish a process for years to come.”

Segovia added that this process will be effective to better understand how to handle art in the future.

“Art is not meant to be forever and sometimes is has to retire just like anything else.”

When artist Vincent Valdez first found out his mural had been painted over, he was in shock. “That mural had been there for almost 16 years,” he said. “However, murals are never permanent and as a muralist we always know that they just get lost some way or other. I’m used to losing these things throughout the years.”

But what surprised him most was the fact it happened almost instantly. “There was no feedback,” he explained. “I have history in this school –my parents graduated from here. When these things happen, an artist always hopes that at least he’ll be informed first before losing his work forever. I definitely would’ve appreciated being informed but there’s no going back now.”

However Valdez was pleased to discover the plan to catalogue and document murals. “It acknowledges that there is a true appreciation and respect for art and artists in the community and most importantly it’s an amazing gesture to future young artists.”