Editorial Introduction
Andy Singleterry
Publisher, Servant Partners Press
La América Tropical
David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros, a muralist and political dissident, was exiled from Mexico in 1932. He fled to Los Angeles, California and persisted in his art. On an outdoor wall overlooking Olvera Street, LA’s old-time Mexican district near downtown, he produced “La América Tropical,” pictured above.
The central figure is a crucified Mexican peasant, with an American eagle looking down. Two freedom fighters are braced for conflict on the right, while the Mayan pyramid in the background is overrun. The mural represents the Mexican struggle against U.S. imperialism.
Such a challenging theme was not welcome in Depression-era Los Angeles. Business interests whitewashed “La América Tropical” less than a year after completion. The work remained hidden for decades, until the mask of paint started to peel thirty years later. The mural found a better reception in the 1960s than it had in the ‘30s, gaining restoration and celebration. It is now considered one of the cornerstones of public art in the U.S.
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevesky famously wrote, “Beauty will save the world.”
A mural like “La América Tropical” shows how this can be true—how beauty can be world-saving, or at least world-blessing. Siqueiros’s work lends meaning to the basic fabric of its neighborhood—the wall still functions as a wall, even as it displays the piece. The mural has to work within the real-world constraints of its setting—it is off-center because of the two windows, and it incorporates the doorway on its right into its scheme. And the blend with the environment lent it “staying power”; an offensive canvas could have been destroyed but a wall has to hold up a building. The stabilizing function of the setting preserved the de-stabilizing message of the painting.
At Servant Partners, we hope to work in our neighborhoods in a similar way, integrating our story within our surroundings. We serve a basic, practical function, like a wall—even as we express a worshipful, prophetic message. “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV)
We launch this publication, The Mural, to shine a light on the beauty we see around us. Every viewer chips off another sliver of paint to unveil God’s masterpiece.