Detail of: "Soul Journey" Designed and Directed by Susan Cervantes

Remembering a Legendary Artist at Precita Eyes Mural Appreciation Festival
Rest in Peace Luis Cervantes
Story by Justin Quinn Collins

This past weekend I attended a festival in honor of famed muralist Luis Cervantes R.I.P. It was a dope festival; all it cost me was the friendship of my ex-girl friend Reyna (that's a story for another day) there was live music, painting and a strong native family vibe. I got to talk to the painter's (Thanks to Josue from “YO!” Big Ups Player) participate in live painting and meet an old friend of my mother and father -- Lorna Dee Cervantes. She is the daughter of the late Muralist and herself an accomplished poet and professor at Univerity of Colorado, who also grew up in San Jose. After being lost for an hour and withstanding the infernal nagging of the beautiful Ms.Reyna, I set eyes on the festival of mural awareness across from the Precita Eyes Center.

The music was dope, one dude called “The Genii” was simultaneously making beats in a lap held beat machine and scratching on an electric guitar,“which I didn't know was possible.” This dude was talented, I mean seriously. He said he has a CD on sale. All the while local artists were going off on a community mural commemorating several Frisco works. Then there was an indigenous music show that was headed by an old school beatnik musician (Jorge Molina) who I talked to who was hella cool and down to earth. He was accompanied by Lorna's own son rocking an Australian Aborigonee flute –“Bwwwaawwwwzzzzaaaabbbbaawwwwaazzzzz.” Then I ran in to my boy Josue from YO – (the artist behind the dope “Publick” cartoon on the back cover of every issue of Youth Outlook.)He introduced me to the Precita Eyes volunteers who let me paint. I can only say it was the most fun I've had in years and we should all help to support The Precita Eyes Center and fight to save the work of Luis Cervantes that is in danger of being painted over like a beautiful Sesame Street mural that once stood on Campus Market on San Salvador.St in San Jose.

Risen Into Paradise

Renowned muralist Luis Cervantes died at his San Francisco home Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer.

He was 81.

Mr. Cervantes, co-founder of Precita Eyes Muralists, a Mission District nonprofit that promotes the mural art form, inspired generations of artists.

"He influenced a lot of Chicano and La Raza artists, and they influenced his work," said his son Luz De Verano Cervantes. "He was passionate about creating a message about one's roots. His murals were often about community, the universal themes of life and transformation and the spirit of family and friends."

Luis Cervantes and his wife, Susan Kelk Cervantes, opened the New Mission Gallery in the 1960s, and in 1977, they started Precita Eyes Muralists, whose mission is to produce urban community art through collaborations. Mr. Cervantes directed many of the nonprofit's projects, including "The Cross of Quetzalcoatl" at San Francisco State's student union, "The Precita Valley Vision" at the Precita Valley Community Center and "Si Se Puede" at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco.

Mr. Cervantes was born in Santa Barbara. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1942 and served in England, Belgium and France with the 358th Engineer General Service Regiment. Mr. Cervantes was among the invasion forces at Normandy on D-Day.

After World War II, Mr. Cervantes moved to San Francisco and found work as a custom mattress maker with the McRoskey Airflex Mattress Company, his employer until his retirement in 1992. He served as president of the San Francisco Furniture Workers Union for two years.

Mr. Cervantes used his G.I. Bill scholarship to study sketching and sculpture at San Francisco State College and ceramic sculpture at the College of Marin and the San Francisco Art Institute. His sculptures have been shown at the M.H. de Young Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Mr. Cervantes, who abandoned ceramic sculptures in the 1970s to concentrate on painting with acrylics, taught at the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco State, the Galeria De La Raza and other venues.

In 1990, he and his wife participated in the Ecological Arts Collaboration, a cultural exchange between American and Russian artists. The couple visited Russia three times and produced two murals in St. Petersburg and one in Moscow.

Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed April 6 "Luis and Susan Cervantes Day," and May is Mural Awareness Month in the Bay Area.

In addition to Kelk Cervantes and Luz De Verano Cervantes, Mr. Cervantes is survived by sons Suaro and Monte of San Francisco and Stephen of Corralitos (Santa Cruz County); daughter Lorna Dee Cervantes of Boulder, Colo.; brothers Angelo of Las Vegas, Juan of Crawfordville, Fla., and Frank of Lompoc; sister Aurora Cervantes of Santa Barbara; and five grandchildren.

The family requests that donations and contributions be sent in Mr. Cervantes' memory to Precita Eyes Muralists, 2981 24th St., San Francisco, 94110.

For more info Check Lorna Dees Blog Page:

Lornadiceblogspot.com and
Precitaeyes.org