Longmont city officials have started work toward repainting a mural depicting late Chicano-rights activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzáles that was painted over earlier this year.
This month, the city’s Multicultural Steering Committee, a group charged with helping city leaders build a more inclusive community, sent a memo to the City Council in which it said it was wrong for the mural to be painted over.
“Destroying any type of artwork is not acceptable,” the memo read.
The committee said the mural should be repainted and expanded, and the city should consider hiring local artists to help in the effort.
At a subsequent study session, the City Council asked city staff to further investigate repainting the mural, said Carmen Ramirez, a community and neighborhood program coordinator in the city who sits on the steering committee.
“The multicultural steering committee really did a great job in taking this issue and really looking at how to move forward,” Ramirez said.
Controversy erupted in March, after city officials painted over the mural, which was on a wall in a youth center.
The mural was painted by teens and others involved with the L-Town Unity Program at the center. The 8-by-15-foot mural depicted Gonzáles and historical figures mentioned in Gonzáles’ epic poem, “Yo Soy Joaquín.”
City officials said they painted over the mural during a remodeling and did not realize its significance or that youth were involved in painting it.
The repainting brought protests from people in Longmont and Denver, including Nita Gonzáles, Corky Gonzáles’ daughter. One of those upset with the repainting decision, Glenn Spagnuolo, who used to run the L-Town Unity Program, said he was happy with the current direction.
“It’s a good compromise,” Spagnuolo said. “I don’t think either side got everything they wanted. But I think it’s something we can both live with.”
The steering committee recommended that figures from the original mural be repainted. But it also recommended the city use an “inclusive process” to expand the mural’s theme to include personal heroes not mentioned in the poem. The city should then find a permanent home for the mural, the committee recommended.
Finally, the committee said the city should clarify its policies on what areas on city property are appropriate for murals.
Sandi Little, an assistant to the city manager, said city staff have two months to come up with ideas for how to implement the committee’s recommendations.
“They found a very unique community-based solution to this,” she said.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
