"Change The World" (June 11, 2013 – August 12, 2014)
Gray Avenue Middle School – Yuba City, CA
*Designed & Painted by: Roberto Valdés Sánchez
Change The World is a 27.5' x 9' mural painted at Gray Avenue Middle School in Yuba City, California. Facing the school’s popular blacktop area and sports field, this painting is seen by thousands of students, parents, faculty, and many campus visitors. The mural's theme is about "empowerment" – to make a difference (with or without a formal education) and using your own personal growth to make the changes you want to see in the world. The mural’s quote - "Educate Yourself Today; Change The World Tomorrow" – is much more than being book-smart or achieving success through a formal education. It's about persevering when the odds are against you and using your own personal growth to change the status quo. As you know, "education" does not only occur in a classroom. It happens all around us - everywhere - and goes far beyond the school system.
Before I began designing this mural, I came up with a long list of historical people who I felt comfortable incorporating into the painting. I then withered the list down to include only those that best exemplified my interpretation of the design's theme. At the end, I selected: César Chávez, George Lucas (with Yoda), Frida Kahlo, Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dolores Huerta, Martin Luther King Jr., Bruce Lee, Mother Teresa, and Muhammad Ali. I added a group of graduates in the center of the design to make a direct connection with the students at the school and to have them reflect upon their immediate educational goals. This is taken from a real photograph of when my older brother and his friends graduated from high school back in 1995. Most of the graduates in this photo attended Gray Avenue Middle School when they were younger. They felt honored to be "immortalized" in a giant mural overlooking their old stomping grounds.
*Side Note: Towards the end of this mural project, my father-in-law (retired professor Salvador V. Soto) passed away before the mural's completion. He was one of my biggest supporters and always wanted to be updated on the mural's progress. For his influential work as an educator, enlightening countless minds during a career that spanned 37 years, I dedicate this mural to him. Though he has passed on, I know he’s seen the finished product and he's proud of the work I've done.
Before I began designing this mural, I came up with a long list of historical people who I felt comfortable incorporating into the painting. I then withered the list down to include only those that best exemplified my interpretation of the design's theme. At the end, I selected: César Chávez, George Lucas (with Yoda), Frida Kahlo, Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dolores Huerta, Martin Luther King Jr., Bruce Lee, Mother Teresa, and Muhammad Ali. I added a group of graduates in the center of the design to make a direct connection with the students at the school and to have them reflect upon their immediate educational goals. This is taken from a real photograph of when my older brother and his friends graduated from high school back in 1995. Most of the graduates in this photo attended Gray Avenue Middle School when they were younger. They felt honored to be "immortalized" in a giant mural overlooking their old stomping grounds.
*Side Note: Towards the end of this mural project, my father-in-law (retired professor Salvador V. Soto) passed away before the mural's completion. He was one of my biggest supporters and always wanted to be updated on the mural's progress. For his influential work as an educator, enlightening countless minds during a career that spanned 37 years, I dedicate this mural to him. Though he has passed on, I know he’s seen the finished product and he's proud of the work I've done.
