Artist to sign mural 21 years late

“La Cultura” is made up of six scenes painted on seperate panels across the East side of Lassen Hall. The panels tell the story of Montezuma instructing the Aztecs to find an eagle perched on a cactus eating a serpant and that when this vision was found that should be where they build their city. It took the Aztecs 200 years before finding such a sight, on the small island which is now Mexico City. Jason Reese/State Hornet

The Multi-Cultural Center and the Art Department will honor Edward Rivera, former California State University Sacramento student and creator of the mural outside Lassen Hall, with a dedication ceremony and a reception Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.

Rivera, who studied at CSUS in the 1960s before transfering to the San Francisco Art Institute, completed the exterior mural in 1978. Last year, he restored several areas that were fading from the elements.

“The mural was done by Ed initially many years ago, but somehow it was destroyed,” Leonard Valdez, director of the multi-cultural center said.

Originally, the same mural was painted in sections on wooden panels in 1970, explained Rivera, but they were accidentally destroyed.

“I had done that mural before and given it to the college on behalf of the Chicano community,” Rivera, a retired police officer, said.

The current mural, repainted directly on the building is still missing one thing: the signature of the artist. The dedication will be made so that Rivera can sign the mural.

The mural has icons and symbols which represent the Aztec culture in Mexico. It has a depiction of Motecuhzoma, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Maize and a Calendar Stone.

Each of the symbols has a historical significance and part of their history is written on a plaque attached to the wall on the left side of the entrance to Lassen Hall.

“I wanted to give something to the community,” Rivera said, “and this mural is a compressed history class.”

Rivera says he does not see himself as the author of the mural, just the tool that constructed it.

“When I painted the mural, I didn’t realize how many people would identify to it and with it,” Rivera said. “The mural was done for the students and the greater Chicano community. I just happened to be the tool.”

Rivera did not sign the mural originally, because at the time he painted it, there was a lot of political turmoil. Since he was a police officer doing art as a hobby, he could not participate in the movements going on at the time.

“I couldn’t go out and demonstrate in the movement with Cesar Chavez,” he said. “I had to protect my job, which was my livelihood.”

About 20 years later, Rivera visited the campus and saw the mural was starting to fade, so he talked to the Art Department, which got a grant to fund the restoration.

Rivera volunteered his time and funds came from an artistic grant to buy paint and supplies. During the summer in 1998 he spent nearly 300 hundred hours to restore the art, but this time used higher quality paint and a UV-resistant coating to prevent future fading.

But this time, he says he just forgot to sign it after it was completed.

“My name has always been up there, as far as I am concerned,” he says proudly. “There’s only one final step to doing it.”

That step will be taken Tuesday. After the dedication and the signing, there will be a reception outside Kadema Hall, open to everyone.