"Talking Walls: Art for the People"
by Katacha Díaz

Student Edition
Unit 6, pp. 336–349

Expository nonfiction provides factual information. What information do you get from this Selection Snapshot?

The United States is a nation of immigrants. People from many countries left their native lands and came to America. They settled here, hoping to find a better life and to enjoy American freedoms. America offers its people many freedoms including the freedom of artistic expression. Here people are free to express themselves through music, dance, and art.
In many places art can be found on the walls of buildings. Artists are hired to paint large murals as public art. They paint indoors or outdoors. Some paintings show the history of a place. Others show festivals or symbols of American freedom and democracy. Most are in bright, vibrant colors. All are art for the people to see.
One such mural is called "Immigrant." It covers the wall of a meat market in Los Angeles and shows Latin American immigrants. One is trying to reach the Statue of Liberty. In the mural are workers and their families. A young mother walks with her family, and a man sells bags of oranges on the street. The mural was painted by Hector Ponce, an immigrant from El Salvador.
Joshua Sarantitis is another muralist. He works with local people to plan murals for their communities. First he talks with the people and encourages them to tell about their neighborhoods. Then he draws a sketch and plans his mural. "Reach High and You Will Go Far" is a rainbow-colored mural he painted in Philadelphia. In it a young girl holds a tree in her hands. Her upraised arms become the tree's roots, high above her head.
Paul Botello began working on murals when he was 8 years old. His older brother, David, is a painter, and Paul used to be his helper. Now, after going to college, Paul does his own murals. His mural "A Shared Hope" appears on the walls of a Los Angeles elementary school. Many of the children in the school are from Central America. The brilliantly colored mural emphasizes the importance of education. It shows a teacher and children. Behind the children are their parents, who help and support them as they learn.
David Botello also started to paint as a boy. Sometimes David works with another painter, but he also paints alone. "Dreams of Flight" is a mural he painted at a public housing project in Los Angeles. It shows a girl playing with a model airplane and a boy flying on a tire swing. Behind them are a great bird, an airplane, an astronaut, a winged horse, and many other vivid images. David hopes the mural lets children know that their dreams can come true.
Murals can tell all kinds of stories. Some reflect political or social ideas. Some entertain. Some make people think. All are one form of artistic expression. They are the people's art.

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