By SDCN Editor
Oceanside, CA–The Oceanside Public Library honored the past and future of the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Indians with the unveiling of a new community mural on May 13.
The celebration was held at the Mission Branch Library with members of the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Mission Indians, Oceanside city officials, library staff, and the public in attendance.
The mural was created by North County resident Gibran Isaias Lopez, who worked with the Oceanside community through a series of workshops last March to visually represent traditional Luiseño stories through his art.
“I would listen and then they would visually translate what they heard with crayons,” Lopez said. “I ask for their permission to use that as an inspiration to create this.”
The Oceanside Public Library Foundation funded the art project which took two weeks to complete.
Lopez, who is professionally known as Isaias, created the mural with oil paint on four separate wood panels. After completing the project, the mural was displayed on a wall near the entrance of the library’s community room.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Lopez added.
“It is amazing that to me the public library goes above and beyond to ensure that we do have this heritage and that it is something that we need for people to display in artistic ways,” Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez said.
Oceanside sits 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 areas surrounding the Mission San Luis Rey. The Luiseño Indians face challenges in preserving what remains of their cultural past, and in creating and sharing its heritage with future generations to come.
“It’s really important in this space in particular to have something that is dedicated to the Poyo and so it’s really excited that we can have that here,” said Jennelise Hafen, branch manager of the Mission Public Library.
Lopez has created murals throughout the U.S. and is also an author and speaker on subjects such as introspection, personal development, and spiritual well-being.
