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Gallup Sun

Thursday, Mar 28th

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You are here: Community Features Beautifying downtown Gallup

Beautifying downtown Gallup

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Artist Jerry Brown has just finished a mural in downtown Gallup entitled Resilience.

It can be viewed at 214 W. Aztec Ave. in the alley on the side of Dental Innovations.

Brown, who says his Diné culture influences his work, describes the mural on the gallupmainstreet.org web site.

“The birds are all found in our region of New Mexico. The Bluebird is made up of cool colors, It represents joy, happiness, and peace. The Varied Thrush is made up of warm colors,” he said in his description. “It is a symbol of speaking our truth and to pay attention to the language we use. The Hummingbird is painted in vibrant in colors. It represents good luck.

“The bee is a symbol of community, of being wise with our natural resources. The fly (can you find it?) can be a reference to the unhealthy nature of our relationships, it can also be a sign of persistence,” Brown explained.

Speaking about the title and the work as a whole, Brown said, resilience means knowing how to work through setbacks, or barriers, or limited resources. Resilience is a measure of how much we want something and how much we are willing to do to achieve it.

“Resilience is a word I have heard often in my life. This mural represents how our community has worked in the face of adversity. How we working (sic) on changing and adapting to meet new challenges. How we continue trying to work together to move forward,” he said.

The mural was sponsored by Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District, with funding from BNSF Foundation, with thanks to Dental Innovations and Tanner’s Indian Arts for helping to make this possible.