MaestraPeace Mural

18th Street view. Photo by Anthony Byrd

Coyolxauhqui – Aztec Goddess of the Moon. According to legend Coyolxauhqui was dismembered and enclosed in stone for trying to prevent the birth of her brother, the god of War. In the mural she is depicted as a whole goddess, breaking free from her captivity in stone.

Restoration work in 2012. Lapidge St. side.

Hanan Ashrawi – Palestinian legislator, activist and scholar, chief spokesperson for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process. Her ability to calmly, strongly and articulately assert her nation’s position won her admiration and gained recognition for the Palestinian cause.

Gabon (Lumbu) Ancestor Mask This African mask indicates the seen and unseen world, including the presence of ancestors in objects. The mask is placed in the center of a map of the continent of Africa.

Georgia O’Keefe – North American painter known for her reverence of natural forms.

Lolita Lebron – Puerto Rican revolutionary, who spent 23 years in prison for fighting for the independence of her country. Her actions and words sought international support for the decolonization of Puerto Rico, to this day still a colony of the U.S.

Women Political Prisoners - These portraits of actual prisoners are examples of women jailed world-wide for their political beliefs and actions.

Linked hands of Audre Lorde, renowned poet, author and lesbian activist, and Lillian Ngoya, leader of the resistance movement in South Africa.

Spirit - Image of Audre Lorde writing “future generations” on the colored bands of names.

Guanyin – East Asian Goddess of Mercy and Compassion She brings souls to the newborns and rain to the earth. She protects women, and grants children to those who want them. She is a deity of the wild places.

Quetzal - This beautifully colored jungle bird cannot survive in captivity. It symbolizes freedom and flies free from Lolita Lebron’s hand.

Yemayah – A powerful Yoruba Orisha, or goddess. Long ago in Africa, she was the symbol of rivers and sweet waters, fertility and life, the mother of all life forms. She wore clear beads, and was a symbol of transformation. During the Middle Passage, she became the mother of the oceans and salt water, and acquired blue beads.

Seven flowers with skull - inspired by the paintings of Georgia O’Keefe. Each of the seven core artists picked one flower to paint, as a bouquet signature.

Maguey cactus - a symbol of renewal and life.

Lesbian couple - Their open affection represents the millions of lesbian and gay people, and their movement for human rights.

Full MaestraPeace Mural from the corner of 18th Street and Lapidge Street.

A woman is receiving the healing touch of Maria Sabina, a Mexican curandera (healer) known for working with native plants and herbs.

Olga Stornaouldo - This local sculptor is dancing with a descendant of the Yi people of Southwest China. The Yi people fostered a tremendous revolutionary commune movement. Their relative in the mural carries on the activist tradition with her ACT-UP t-shirt.

Part of the Lapidge Street façade

Larger view of Coyolxauhqui, Aztec Goddess of the Moon, rising from Rigoberta Menchu's hand.

Painter from Mithila, India - The craft is passed on from woman to woman over thousands of years. The paintings are a spiritual meditation and the product may be painted over or used to wrap something up.

Larger view of Yemayah rising from Rigoberta Menchu's hand.

Lapidge Street façade - At the top is Rigoberta Menchu who won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her social justice work on behalf of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala.