Up Art Studio put out a call to their artists to design a mini mural at Bennington Dr & Hirsch Rd. To my surprise, my design got picked, woohoo! The design I submitted had a horse, instead of the bakery and family you see now. We did some revisions and came up with this final sketch for the mini mural.
Even though there were several requests regarding the artwork design, I was completely open to implementing their suggestions because I’m not familiar with the neighborhood, other than driving through it, and wanted to make sure the artwork represents the community and they’ll be happy to see it on their streets everyday.
I felt very proud to be selected because of what The La Bonita Civic Club said:
“…this mural is a very exciting project for our community. For so long our existence has been denied and, just recently, we have been validated. So, this mural is very important to us. In fact, I hope this is the beginning of many more paintings to come.
“…please add "La" to Bonita Gardens…Technically, the "La" should be in there because it encompasses the entire community and not just the Bonita Gardens Subdivision. The two other subdivisions in "La Bonita" (Precinct 574) are Bennington Pace and Cranford Place. Bonita Gardens was the first to be established and the new occupants were predominantly Spanish-speaking, hence, La Bonita was derived from Bonita Gardens. And, it stuck.”
Originally, the design did not have “La” in front of Bonita Gardens and I would’ve never known to include had I not been open to their comments.
Zepeda’s Bakery
This is an old google maps image of Zepeda’s Bakery that formerly existed on Hirsch street.
The community members sent the image and had the idea of including the bakery in the artwork, stating the following: “I found this image of the abandoned bakery from 2007 Google Maps. Is it possible to draw it into the background of the family, of course, with some life to it? I think that would make sooo many of us very happy. Imagine the warm, sweet aroma of memories it will trigger.”
Someone familiar with the bakery saw the mini mural and posted on Instagram. Turns out, she is a niece of the former owner and her name is Loida. I reached out to her because I was curious to know more about the the building since it no longer exists but seems to be a sweet memory for the locals.
Loida told me her uncle Ismael Zepeda owned Zepeda’s Bakery and passed away there in a robbery in January 1981. He left behind 4 young children at the time. There’s a Houston Chronicle article about the incident, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to locate it. Ismael owned several properties in the neighborhood. Sometimes, when tenants couldn’t pay rent, he would give them extra time and groceries on credit. Zepeda’s was one of the first Mexican bakeries in Houston. Ismael made barbacoa to sell on Sunday mornings. This was before Hispanic meat markets existed in the area.
Loida says she has a memory of her uncle in the back of the bakery making marranitos, which are gingerbread in the shape of a little pig. He would glaze the dough with egg with a little brush. He was wearing a white apron. The memory of watching her uncle work always sticks in Loida’s mind. She was 11 when he passed away.
Hearing this story made my heart melt. I wish I knew these details before painting the mural so I could implement the story of Ismael into the design. However, Loida and the La Bonita Civic Club are happy with how it turned out. And so am I ! It definitely brightens up the street corner and makes the view from Busby Park a bit more pleasant.
The box when it was primed and ready for painting.
Laying down the base colors first.
I did the text side first. I used a grid to ensure the letters were placed in the right spot.
I created a stencil to transfer the portrait sketches to the box.
Below is photo of Mr. Luis Cruz and I - he is the owner of Mr. Cruz Tire Shop where the traffic signal box is located. His presence while I was painting was helpful for keeping my spirits up throughout the heat! Painting is a lonely job so having company is always a treat.
I was skeptical about taking on the project at first because I was worried about two things - 1) safety because the neighborhood appears pretty rough, and 2) being an outsider to the community coming in to paint a mural… as if I don’t belong?
However, once I was out there painting, everything turned out fine. Anyone who approached me had only positive things to say. People who stopped at the intersection would roll down their windows and shout praises. I felt welcome and never uncomfortable. I think it also helped that Mr. Cruz had my back!
The only rough part about doing this mural was working in the hot Texas sun. The heat kicked my butt! I limited myself to 2-3 hours sessions and spread the work over a few months. I took my time on this one because of how hot it was.
