Story & photos by Claudia Flores
For Gabe Velasquez, graffiti has always been part of his development as an artist. Most recently the 28-year-old El Pasoan created the “El Paso Strong” mural located on 1101 N Cotton Street.
After 22 people lost their lives in the mass shooting at the Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall on Aug. 3, the El Paso native decided to pay tribute to the victims and the community.
“[The past events] opened my eyes to the world because these things have happened in a lot of places, but this time was here in our hometown,” Velasquez said. “I’ve always been about El Paso and this made me feel [bad] for the people because I know it could have been any one of us.”
Velasquez said he got a call from a friend who wanted him to paint the wall with “El Paso Strong” just like the billboards on the highways, but Velasquez had something else in mind to showcase his love for El Paso.
“[He] sent me the billboard and it was just white and orange letters, real simple, and I was like ‘I don’t think so,’” Velasquez said. “I wanted to do some straight letters with the city inside of it with filigree and rose on top. My friend was like ‘that’s a lot to do right now,’ but that’s the way you do it, I feel you’re either all in or not at all.”
The mural took three days to complete according to Velasquez. He said he received help from three other artists in order to complete the piece.
Just weeks before, Velasquez had suffered injuries from a motorcycle accident. He recalls being in pain while working in the tribute piece, but pain wouldn’t stop him from finishing the mural.
“My knee got swollen and infected and I couldn’t bend it because of the motorcycle accidents and it really hurt. I was even crying [in pain] half the time when I was doing my piece,” Velasquez said. “I’m just on a mission to do the best work that I can create because I thoughts this would be the most relevant strong piece that El Paso Strong can have.”
“For the community this mural represents more than just words, it’s a reminder of how El Paso is a strong and resilient community,” according to 22-year-old graduate student and El Paso resident Judith Rucobo.
“The mural was an extremely nice gesture and it’s extremely appreciated by our community,” Rucobo said. “I hope this momentum doesn’t die with time, I hope we continue to be “El Paso Strong” and to someday have the same feeling of safety in our hometown.”
The creation of this mural has changed Velasquez life as people approach him to work in new projects with the artist. At the moment, Velasquez said he has 36 murals lined up to work on.
“I’m a very busy person. I’m going to be painting murals every day, at least next year,” Velasquez said. “I’ve got a mural to do at the airport, I’m doing a project there and that’s a real big deal.”
As a local artist he hopes he could collaborate with other artists in the future for the creation of new murals around the city.
As he continues to work on future projects, Velasquez said he plans to make T-shirts, stickers and banners with the “El Paso Strong” mural image to sell in the community. He said all proceed will go directly to the victims and their families.
To see more about Velasquez’ art visit his Instagram account @darth_grenade.