MAH Community Conversations: Storytelling through Murals

The MAH welcomes you to a virtual community conversation about the value of acknowledging community truth, struggle, and resilience through murals with Guillermo Aranda, Ray Cancino of Community Bridges, and Mireya Contreras Gomez. Facilitated by Helen Aldana of the MAH.

Conversation will highlight topics on land acknowledgement, representation, collaboration, and the censorship of art in public spaces.

Mireya Gomez-Contreras is an intuitive collaborator and a skilled cultural interpreter, convener, and facilitator. Mireya has been deeply engaged in movement building to uplift her diverse community since she was young. Mireya was the Director of Employment Programs at Community Action Board Santa Cruz County, established and managed the first Day Worker Center on the Central Coast, and has served on the Watsonville Parks & Recreation and Planning Commissions. Mireya is currently a Language and Cultural Consultant, co-leader of Esperanza Farms, and Deputy Director of the Santa Cruz County Arts Council.

Ray Cancino serves as Community Bridges' CEO. Hailing from San Francisco, Ray has an extensive background in human services and holds an MA in public administration. ​Previously, he was with Catholic Charities CYO San Francisco, a multi-service nonprofit serving families & seniors. Fluent in Spanish, he's been a case manager in a family services center and union president of SEIU 1021 at Catholic Charities CYO. He has worked with collaboratives; developing new funding sources and building programs throughout the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay regions. Ray also serves as a MAH board trustee.

Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda is a gifted and prolific artist, well known and celebrated in his community for his enormous contributions in mural painting. From San Diego to Santa Cruz, he has completed over 80 murals, the majority in the Santa Cruz and Monterey County areas. His work is defined as contemporary traditional art, reflecting an imagery of indigenous ancestry in the modern world with the timelessness of natural forms, juxtaposed against contemporary images, bold, vibrant and alive. His images reflect old myths and legends, making full circle to the present.

You can learn more about the mural at the Community Bridges website https://communitybridges.org/mural/