The North Wall Mural Project is a project of The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, Charlottesville Mural Project, and McGuffey Art Center, to create a rotating mural space on McGuffey Art Center’s north entrance exterior wall. This outdoor mural space displays the voices, perspectives, and stories of Black, Indigenous, and Artists of Color (BIAOC) in our community who are not sufficiently represented at McGuffey Art Center and in our greater arts community. The yearly rotating nature of the mural project intends to encourage sharing the wealth within the arts community to provide continual opportunities for artists to be paid for their creative and physical labor, as well as to encourage the sharing of a variety of artist perspectives every year. The North Wall Mural Project has an active fundraiser on GoFundMe to raise funds to directly cover artist stipends and material costs.
November 2022: Karina Monroy
La Cultura Cura; Somos Medicina
“I’ve been thinking a lot about death, grief and loss–not just of people, but of things, ideas, concepts, lives we thought we had planned, relationships we thought would live forever, and the internal death and rebirth of one’s self. Death and transformation; they are one in the same.
Pomegranates hold both a symbolic and personal significance in this mural. They represent death, rebirth and fertility. These fruits also grew in my abuelita’s backyard, and as a child I would spend time harvesting, peeling and eating large bowls of its jewels, usually with lemon juice and salt. The sweet combined with the acidic and the salty, a perfect combination of taste, a perfect representation of what it feels to be alive. Mis dedos acababan manchados de rojo.
The moth or the Aztec obsidian butterfly, carries the symbol of transformation, and like the pomegranate, death and rebirth. In the mural, the pomegranates and the moths interact, intersect, and connect through their magic or medicine. The words, La Cultura Cura (culture cures, or culture heals) and Somos Medicinia (we are medicine), serve as reminders of the transformational healing powers held deep within us.
I dedicate this mural to my maternal grandparents; my Tata Jose and my Nina Andrea. Who offered their gifts to heal our people and us. And to my paternal grandparents, Tara Apolonio and Nina Belen, who passed when I was very young, and before my birth, but who’s medicina I know I still carry within me. Similarly, this mural is ultimately an offering, to my gente and my comunidad. A gentle reminder, that amongst death, loss and grief, we have continuously transformed and healed ourselves and each other through our gifts—our medicine.
Con cariño”
-Karina A. Monroy
Karina is a California Chicana, mixed media artist and self-proclaimed brujita currently living in central Virginia. In 2016 she received her B.A. in art and anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work explores the divinity of femininity within Chicanx and Mexican/American culture. Through needlework, painting, sculpture and drawing, Karina creates delicate images, and objects as healing offerings for her feminine ancestors. Karina is currently an MA candidate in the Art Therapy Program at The George Washington University. Karina's website: https://www.karinaamonroy.com
January 2021: ‘Kinfolk’ by Meesha Goldberg
Our first mural on the North Wall is by artist, poet, and farmer Meesha Goldberg and is entitled, Kinfolk. Kinfolk uses color with intention to explore the interconnection of humanity within the greater family of nature. The long 90’ mural is punctuated with a land acknowledgment, reminding the viewer that the mural occupies Monacan Nation territory. To further explore the nature of kinship, the artist has chosen to return her profit from the mural to the Monacans and their fight to protect their ancient capital city, Rassawek, from a proposed water pump station. To find out more and learn how to support, visit: www.culturalheritagepartners.com/saverassawek/.
In conjunction with the creation of this mural, Goldberg worked alongside talented filmmaker and Incubator Program resident, Michael Jones, on the creation of a commemorative short film on Goldberg’s completed mural and the reflection of the mural to her personhood. The short film, KINFOLK., is available for viewing here.
To celebrate and inaugurate the completion of the mural, McGuffey Art Center and The Bridge PAI hosted a virtual artist talk with muralist Meesha Goldberg on January 30, 2021. Goldberg shared a peek into her past artistic and creative experience, the concept behind her community mural as well as an in-depth into her process in the creation of the mural. The short film, KINFOLK., was premiered during this virtual event and filmmaker Michael Jones made a special appearance to discuss his collaboration with Goldberg and how this work shaped his future film goals. Watch the virtual event here.
KINFOLK.: a short film
KINFOLK. (2020) is a thoughtful short film, directed and produced by Michael Jones of Independent Film Fund. The film was created with the intention of showcasing a recently completed community mural outside of McGuffey Art Center by artist and poet, Meesha Goldberg. KINFOLK explores the context and message behind Goldberg's mural of the same name. As part of the North Wall Mural Project (a partnership between The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, The Charlottesville Mural Project, and McGuffey Art Center), Goldberg designed and created a 90' mural outside McGuffey Art Center, in the hopes of speaking to the importance of community connection.
About the muralist
Meesha Goldberg is an artist, poet, and farmer whose primary artistic medium is oil paint, which she uses to render realistic, mystical landscapes that speak to humanity’s belonging and responsibility to the earth. Her experiences journeying through monocultures, standing on frontlines, and living off the land have all served as inspiration through her evolving work. Goldberg has exhibited in galleries across the country with solo shows in Portland, Los Angeles, and Seattle. You can find more of Goldberg's work on her website (www.meeshagoldberg.com) or her Instagram (@meeshagoldberg).
Interviews & articles about Meesha Goldberg & Kinfolk
Kinfolk: McGuffey North Wall, Charlottesville Mural Project (Dec 2020)
Artist paints Kinfolk mural outside of McGuffey Art Center, CBS19 News (Dec 2020)
Art Notes, Daily Progress (Dec 2020)
