Author Photo: Brian Black, Palomar College Art Teacher

 

Shadows and strange histories, indigenous lore and personal memories, the mythic qualities of Chollas Lake Park inspired educators Brian Black and Ryan Bulis to begin their project, carving numerous forgotten tree stumps into faces. In the coming weeks, their work will continue in various parks around San Diego, beautifying infrastructure and helping visitors to engage their surroundings in new and meaningful ways. After long meetings with municipal authorities, Black and Bulis were granted permission to create temporary installations — as well as permanent sculptures — citywide with Chollas Lake serving as a focal point.

Although he is inspired by indigenous Scandinavian art, Black will approach each tree trunk intuitively, simply allowing the face to emerge, unencumbered by any particular style or tradition. After the work is complete, visitors will enjoy vibrant wooden sculptures, faces that adorn forgotten enclaves and endure the seasons in silence. Observing the early stages of the Chollas project, I can see interesting parallels with the mural paintings of Chicano Park, a stretch of public land situated several miles to the east. In both locations, members of the community have complex stories to share with visitors, either through the pulsating colors of paint or the soft edges of carved eucalyptus.

Author Photo: Brian Black’s Work in Progress

 

Author Photo: Chicano Park, San Diego, California

 

While the art of Chollas Lake will reflect universal themes of nature — and the haunting aspect of its faces — the murals of Chicano Park are, to a large extent, historical narrations with specific stories to convey. Indeed, the subject deserves a separate article which I hope to present this summer. Regarding the role of civic murals, I found an interesting source in my library.

Toward a People’s Art: The Contemporary Mural Movement by Eva Cockcroft, John Pitman Weber, and James Cockcroft was written in 1977 to document an important social history, one which had previously been ignored by most historians and artists outside of the Chicano community. I was fortunate enough to find the 1998 edition in a used bookstore not long ago. In the introduction (xxviii) we read:

“The Movement was, in fact, not one movement but several with sometimes overlapping memberships, sympathies, goals, rhetorics, and tactics. The civil rights, antiwar, gay liberation, and feminist movements each challenged a part of the foundation of understandings around which American culture and public life had been organized during the Cold War.”

Author Photo: Chicano Park, San Diego, California

 

San Diego played its own role in this movement, as activists fought to establish a public park of their own, a stronghold of sorts, where the spirit of an oppressed community could flourish and find expression in great swathes of color. Without question, a visit to Chicano Park is an event, a journey through complex layers of history as envisioned by local artists. I am curious to learn how the carved faces of Chollas Lake will interact with the murals of Chicano activists, both past and present. What are your thoughts?

Faces provide powerful motifs for environmental art in the city. Whether carved or painted, the human image expresses ideas about nature while, simultaneously, challenging us to reconsider our relationship with it. Artists continue to develop this theme in the parks of San Diego.

References:

Interview with Palomar College art teacher Brian Black April 21, 2022, Chollas Lake Park, San Diego, California.

Eva Cockcroft, John Pitman Weber, and James Cockcroft. Toward a People’s Art: The Contemporary Mural Movement. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.

Sandigo.org. “Chicano Park: National Landmark, Local Treasure”

“Chicano Park is the geographic and emotional heart of Barrio Logan, located in Logan Heights, San Diego’s oldest Mexican-American neighborhood. The park is home to the largest concentration of Chicano murals in the world with more than 80 paintings on seven acres dotted with sculpture, gardens, picnic tables and playgrounds.”