In concurrence with the Latina/Latino Studies Program’s 10th anniversary, artist and University alumnus Oscar Martinez restored and completed the murals on the walls of the program’s house at 510 E. Chalmers St.

Although the program has only been on campus for ten years, the murals date back to the 1970s when students rallied to change the hostile environment experienced by Latino and African American students, Martinez said.

He said Latino students asked the University to provide advisors and a cultural center to help educate about Hispanic culture and provide moral and academic support. In the fall of 1974, after holding demonstrations, Latino students got a cultural house they called La Casa, a part-time recruiter, a full-time counselor and a part-time director for La Casa.

Despite limited resources and concern about being arrested, Martinez began to paint murals in hopes that future generations would rally to stop La Casa from being torn down since it was built on temporary land. La Casa has since become the program’s house and a new La Casa Cultural Latina, 1203 W. Nevada St., was built in 1995.

“The mural was significant because students used the mural as a rallying point [and] as a symbol of Latino pride and Latino struggles to make the experience of future Latino students at the University better,” Martinez said. “I started the ceiling and left it unfinished thinking that maybe someday I could come back and finish the ceiling.”

Through the efforts of students and faculty members, Martinez finished and placed the ceiling mural in the house in fall 2005.

“I wanted the ceiling mural to be very colorful, happy and full of hope, and the murals on the walls to have the more difficult issues that we were facing at the time and still facing today,” Martinez said.

Martinez said the murals pay tribute to the students who demonstrated and defines Latinos not as one group but as individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

Alberto Cabrales, student worker at the program’s house and senior in ALS, said the murals represent the history of the Latino community at the University.

“[The murals show] a history of oppression, struggle, movements, accomplishments, advances, traditions, hope and faith,” Cabrales said. “The murals impact me as a student because they represent many of the accomplishments former Latino alumni fought for.”

Cabrales said he experiences the same struggles and obstacles that former students faced as he enters the workforce.

“The murals are an important part of the Latino community on campus, I strongly recommend for students, faculty and staff to take the time to take a tour of the murals so they could experience first hand the magnificent stories being told,” Cabrales said.