Spectrum News 1 – Son Restores Mural 25 Years After His Dad Painted It
PUBLISHED 8:47 AM ET Sep. 03, 2019
By Vicky Nguyen
FULLERTON, Calif. – Solving a 25-year-old puzzle can be a challenge, but Artist Emigdio “Higgy” Vasquez says he is up for it.
“In a way, it’s really is uncovering the thought process of his palette and what went into his work,” said Vasquez.
He is known in the art community as “Higgy” and is also the son of famed Chicano Artist Emigdio Vasquez, Sr., who painted dozens of murals throughout Southern California, including “Niños del Mundo” in Fullerton by Lemon Park on Lemon Street. The title of the mural in English translates to “Children of the World.”
“In a very strange way, this is a way of getting to be with my dad since he has passed away. This is a way of remembering him through his work,” said Vasquez.
The artist was in his twenties when he helped his dad paint this mural in 1994, which features 13 children from different regions around the globe. Since then colorful layers of the paint have faded over time. In hopes to beautify the neighborhood and encourage the community to raise money to restore other murals in the area, the city of Fullerton is funding the restoration project.
“I just think that’s wonderful. It tells you that we live in a culture that values art,” said Vasquez.
Vasquez is working with his wife, Katherine Bowers, on this project. He says she is instrumental in handling the administrative and logistics aspects of their restoration projects. They spend more of their mornings at the mural to make use of the cooler temperatures since there is no shade by the mural.
Every few minutes or so, there is usually a passerby who stops and talks to the couple like Patricia Fine.
“I thought I’d just drive by to see if anybody was here on the site and I got lucky,” said Fine, an educator from Buena parks.
Fine says she used to work at the Santa Fe Springs Neighborhood Center where Vasquez, Sr., painted a mural. Fine had seen his dad paint before and loves the message behind his murals.
“Every day when my class was over, I would walk through the patio and pass to see how much progress has been made. I always admired the style and the colors and just the brilliance of capturing the faces,” said Fine.
Vasquez and his wife has been working on the mural for about a month and expect to be done with it in about a few more weeks.
REFERENCE AND VIDEO: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/news/2019/09/03/son-restores-mural-25-years-after-his-dad-painted-it