Isolated neighborhood in prime spot for high-speed rail in Fresno. Mural celebrates legacy
Mauro Carrera is set up in front of some scaffolding in an alley in Chinatown.
He’s detailing out the color work on a two-story mural that when completed will be one of many \in this three-block section in an isolated pocket of downtown Fresno.
Within his line of sight, there’s a building covered in tribal patterns and another with a full wall of black-and-white portraits, including Fresno rappers Fashawn and Derrick “Aesop” McElroy. At the other end of the alley, a student mural stretches the length of the Central Fish Co. building.
Around the corner, a pair of giant koi fish and lotus flowers encompass the building space was once Dick’s Shoes and Men’s Wear. The entire back of Komoto’s Department Store and Hotel is covered with a long series of interlocking murals.
“This one has a landscape element,” Carrera says of his mural, which was commissioned by California’s High-Speed Rail Authority in partnership with the the city, the Fresno Arts Council and Chinatown Fresno Foundation.
A public unveiling is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday and will feature HSR Authority Chairman Tom Richards.
The main image is an outline of California, with rays of light (and also a high-speed rail train) emanating from the central Valley and Fresno specifically.
A Chinese dragon and a bonsai tree are set on top on each side.
The mural “embraces the moment,” Carrera says, “and also makes sense for the future;” a high speed rail project “that will unify the state,” he says.
The location of the mural was well chosen, says Augie Blancas, an information officer with the High Speed Rail Authority.
It’s literally a sidewalk away from construction of the Tulare Street underpass, which is expected to open in the middle part of next year to connect Chinatown with the rest of downtown proper. In the distance you can see the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, which will be incorporated into part of Fresno’s high-speed rail station.
“A lot of work is happening in the area,” Blancas says.
There are more than 30 construction sites along the 119 miles of rail line currently under construction.
Carrera has been doing public art and mural work for more than a decade, starting on the public art wall at Calwa Park in southeast Fresno. His work now can be seen all over that neighborhood, as well as other parts of Fresno.
He’s also done mural work in Tijuana, Mexico City, and the Bronx.
In 2017, he was part of the team that produced “Murmuration,” on the old Fresno Bee building, which currently houses the Community Media Access Collaborative. The five-story mural is an ode to the Central Valley’s literary heritage.
Carrera’s artistic vision is to “create artwork that is accessible and relatable to communities that would not typically have access to museums or galleries.”
In that way, he sees the mural as an invitation of sorts, for folks to come embrace Chinatown along with its history and future.
“It’s like a really cool kind of spark.”
