Local artist Monica Navarro-Marroquín creates Dream Center mural
Artist Monica Navarro-Marroquín (far left) unveils her mural at the Skyline College Dream Center
On Feb. 28th, Bay Area muralist Monica Navarro-Marroquín unveiled her newest mural at Skyline College’s Dream Center.
The mural, which features the Dream Center’s logo of a monarch butterfly, includes plenty of symbolism that reflects the community, Navarro-Marroquín says.
“I wanted my mural to showcase the beauty in the journey that undocumented students take in going to Skyline College and pursuing their version of the American dream. Martin [Marquez] and I came up with the concept of using the monarch butterfly as it widely represents migration, alongside the tenacity that often comes with being an immigrant in this country. The monarch butterfly knows no borders and is essentially limitless in what it knows it can achieve,” Navarro-Marroquín said.
Over 94,000 students across California are undocumented, according to Higher Ed Immigration Portal. The Board of Trustees designates the three district campuses as “safe havens” in 2017.
“I believe art is incredibly important and powerful in telling the story of the community. I can only imagine the nerves and stress undocumented students go through in navigating the school system. My wish is for the students to walk into the dream center and for a huge weight to be lifted off their shoulders when they see my mural… that it may inspire hope along their journey at Skyline [College]”, Navarro-Marroquín said of the importance of art.
“Murals have been around for many thousands of years to share stories all over, and many murals have impacted the world by highlighting different social issues. I wanted to create a light-hearted approach to storytelling what may feel like a heavy matter at times for the undocumented Skyline students.”
The Dream Center assists undocumented students with a wide range of tasks, such as getting free legal advice, applying for financial aid, and having a supportive network on campus.
Navarro-Marroquín also owns Diosa Dreams and can be reached via her Instagram account @diosa.dreams and on her website www.diosadreams.com, where more of her artwork can be found.
