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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
News Page 8 Street Roots • July 1-7, 2016 Street Roots • July 1 -7, 2016 News Page 9 Walls of beauty, wall of h e a lin g teaching that place and color may divide us, but we are all related and live within eysus is a graphic artist on the rise the same circle. In the top portion, animals, butterflies, in Portland, a soft-spoken, buildings and people represent life as the thoughtful young man with a story to tell. In 2007, while at Lane Middle kids see it. The four ancestral spirit figures of North, South, East and West School, he helped paint a mural with anchor the picture, each 15 feet high, Rodolfo “Rudy” Serna, a local artist who supporting with outstretched arms the befriended him. world above them. The piece is so large, Over time, a teacher-student relationship emerged and Heysus began to its colors so saturated that it can be glimpsed from Interstate 205 South on see his mentor as a role model, one who stuck with him during his time of changing the west side of Foster Road. Like all of Rudy’s murals, this one is a mirror of the high schools and the resultant temporary community; culturally diverse kids worked homelessness. together to select the images, including Although Heysus was unaware at the fierce animals, Pacific Northwest scenery, time, Rudy was laying the groundwork for bridges, people, flowers, and symbols of Heysus’ future their culture and Portland. artistic "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart. “My cultural background gives the development. Now 21, Heysus youth confidence,” he said. “My being a (his professional brown person gets the kids to tell me stories about their Uves, or what happens name) has at home, or a boy in pain because his gained b ro th e r w as d ep o rted .” recognition for Rudy’s goal is to build a trusting his cartoon and relationship with at-risk kids, maybe the screen-printing a revolution which has to start first one in their life. arts, and he with each one of us." But first Rudy has to find them, and he mounted his Dorothy Day does so through social media, community own art show agencies, nonprofit groups, pubUc schools, on March 30 at housing meetings and professional Roseland trainings. Theater in Portland. Mural making is a process. Rudy begins Rudy Serna, a 41-year-old Mexican- by submitting a proposal for a project to a American, has dedicated his life to community partner. Then he secures traumatized youths, those who have been funding, and meets with the youths at scarred by abuse, addictions, dislocation their school gym or community center. He and gangs. Strong threads of his own sings a traditional Lakota song to thank childhood poverty, alienation and chaos the youths for joining him, and then tells a are woven into Rudy’s work of healing story about totems or spirit helpers, through community building and the arts. emphasizing humility and sacrifice. With snapping black eyes, a long ponytail While designing and painting the mural, and paint-splattered clothes, Rudy is a Rudy carves out a space for marginalized powerful figure who naturally attracts kids youngsters, where conversations about life outside the mainstream culture. More and pain are safe and mutual trust begins. than 20 of his murals grace the interiors and exteriors of public schools, community One reason for his success is constant role sites and public buildings in Portland, modeling: If he can do it, they can too. Through the medium of painting, teens along with two schools in Vancouver, can risk confiding disturbing or shocking Wash. things, some of them unbelievable, he I met with Heysus in Lents at the said. Some older boys arrived in Portland Wattles Boys & Girls Club mural that he helped create. Completed in late 2015 as a after a harrowing trip from Central America and painted their own faces into collaboration that included four nonprofit a grim picture of boys at a crossroads. groups and 65 young artist partners, the mural stretches 90 by 25 feet This bold Rarely do kids ever paint self-portraits, he said. painting is typical of Rudy’s style: Rudy said a grisly, mean-looking bear traditional indigenous and spiritual may stand in for a memory or thought that symbols mix with everyday images. the youth needs to express. On the mural Primary colors are applied using the impressionistic techniques of stippling, or inside Northeast Portland’s Rigler School, a menacing black and deep purple panther small dots, and hatch marks. This is poised to pounce on the viewer. This is particular mural depicts the Four Directions, thè indigenous philosophical the school’s mascot, but for the mural, the B Y PEN ELO PE LICHATOWICH kids wanted more: a strong and powerful animal, reflecting how they felt Over the weeks of creating a mural, in addition to nurturing relationships, he teaches the kids the basics of building a scaffold, mixing colors and handling various brushes. Their completed mural culminates with a festive unveiling for the entire community. Ultimately, kids develop an intense pride of joint ownership; it’s their mural. Rudy emphasized the point, suggesting that the youths take credit as a group because the project gives them an empowering new sense of belonging. In his own formative years, Rudy encountered two men, a comic book artist and an art teacher, who took some interest in his talent, but mostly he was self-taught. He had neither an advocate nor a mentor. As a teen, the autobiographical “Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez” influenced him. In it, Rodriguez writes of living in a house with few rooms, and the need to find a small corner in which C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R H ; [ i I- t Ì i > to w rite an d escap e th e chaos of h is life. Rudy Serna, 41, teaches kids the basics o f creating murals, as well as nurturing relationships. His mural a t Wattles Boys & Girls Club stretches 90 by 25 feet and mixes traditional indigenous and spiritual symbols - such as the four ancestral spirit figures o f North, South, East and West - with Earthly images - such as animals, butterflies and buildings. STREET ROOTS PHOTO Visual art was Rudy’s escape from a similar life, providing shelter from the negativity surrounding him. Sitting in my living room, Rudy tells about his childhood in a segregated Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, the metro area with the fifth-largest Latino population in the U.S. “Growing up there, I feel like I personally faced a lot of the issues that the families and populations that I serve are experiencing,” Rudy said. “And so I feel like it is the foundation for the work I am doing now with a lot of predominantly Latino families that are impoverished, gang affected, dealing with legal issues. It’s a lot of the same stuff my family grew up with.” Emotions are close to the surface when he talks about the most wounded kids. Rudy finally got out of his Chicago barrio by joining the Marines, where he served from 1992 until 1996. In 1999, when he arrived in Portland, he felt he’d hit rock bottom and was seeking stability and faith. About 10 years ago, he was introduced to the Lakota community, under the leadership of John Bravehawk, whom he calls his adoptive father. This group has become his spiritual anchor. He helps at sweat lodge ceremonies and generally serves as a spiritual servant of the people. Mentored by elders, this relationship has strengthened Rudy’s ties to his Mexican roots, which influence and enrich his work. His interest in murals began back in inner-city Chicago, where he did graffiti cleanup on a large scale with other graffiti artists,' and gained momentum in Portland as word of mouth and more projects established his reputation. He is proud of his personal accomplishments: medals from his service in the Marines during the first Gulf War, a bachelor’s degree in art from Portland State University and the Skidmore Prize, which he received in 2008 for his contribution to nonprofit organizations that directly benefit Portland. He has two sons - Mateo in Portland and Andres in Hilo, Hawaii. These days, Rudy works with diverse community partners who identify at-risk boys and girls and also sponsor his work. These include the Latino Network, the Aztec Dancers, the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice, p:ear, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Mackenzie River Gathering The Revolutions o f the Heart series Foundation, and originates from a workshop taught by Portland Parks Martha Gies, whose students are profiling and Recreation. people in the community who inspire us. In his bread- ' The title comes from Dorothy Day: “The and-butter job w ith th e greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution o f the heart, a revolution nonprofit Latino which has to start with each one o f us.” Network, Rudy is (Loaves and Fishes: The Inspiring Story o f a social worker, the Catholic Worker Movement.) case manager and resource specialist. He works with legal and immigration issues, in finding ways to get the lights back on for his clients, and with the entire range of poverty-related hurdles he knows too well. Lately, the Network took over the fiscal sponsorship of Rudy’s art projects by co-applying for grant funds. The new sponsorship has freed him up to begin mentoring gang-affected teens of all races, as well as boys housed in Portland’s Donald E. Long Detention Center for youths. “These kids are raw and need intensive intervention,” he said. “The ones who have experienced horrible things basically shut you out and have this non-expression, a blasé kind of smile that is so telling.” He recently received news that the Multnomah County Department of Justice has given permission for him to set up a traditional sweat lodge once a month at the detention center. Biweekly activities such as mural arts and Aztec dancing will also be made available to the youths. “My work is spiritual,” Rudy said, “based on a foundation of love.” Rudy knows he will not have an impact on all kids. He simply wants the chance. Penelope f. Lichatowich is a Northeast Portland resident and proud grandm a to Mateo Serna, R udy’s 7year-old son.
