GRACIAS A LA VIDA POR TI

“Gracias a La Vida” is a multilingual mural project, created to honor a Highland Park, New Jersey resident and long-term Unity Bank client, José de la Luz Pérez Moreno, who died in 2020. The mural project combines several initiatives in order to engage the Highland Park and New Brunswick communities in events and activities designed to promote critical conversations around race, inclusion, and justice, build relationships across the Highland Park and New Brunswick communities, provide clear paths for taking action, and develop multigenerational advocates and leaders in the community. 

In 2023, I CREATED The “Gracias a La Vida” mural with assistance by Salina Almanzar-Oree. THE MURAL represents the many facets of Highland Park. The mural depicts the hands of the woodworker that hover over the map of the community. The map transitions to the landscape of Highland park with the image of the worker on a bicycle. The worker exemplifies the many (im)migrant workers that have found a home in Highland Park. The worker moves with a prism of colors resembling the colorful ribbons in the dresses of traditional dances of Mexico. The ribbons extend as rays of light to the center of the mural where a mother and daughter share an embrace and represent the core motivation of the worker, his family. The ribbons then reach the image of a young child in his native country, the child represented is José de la Luz Pérez Moreno and his sister. This image represents the connection to land and ancestral roots. José’s personal story connects with the stories of so many (im)migrant workers in Highland Park. The presence of the Dahlia flower (grown in Mexico) frames the fence that holds the many love lockets by the river in the community. The lock is combined with the image of the milagro (miracle) which are charms used for requests, for protection, and as a source of good luck in Mexico. José was nicknamed “Cheluz ‘’ which is inscribed on the locket as a dedication to him.

LOCATION: UNITY BANK, 104 Raritan Ave, Highland Park, NJ 08904

Photographer: CLAUDIO MIR

Support provided by Mary Curran