Denver Chicano Mural Tours keep neighborhood history visible

Artist Emanuel Martínez works carefully along the exterior wall of La Alma Recreation Center under the morning sun, restoring a massive mural that has stood in the neighborhood for nearly five decades. Standing before the mural he painted in 1978, Martínez pointed to the figures across the wall and reflected on how dramatically the neighborhood around it has changed.

“This is probably the most iconic mural in Denver,” Martinez said. “It stands as a kind of testimony of what was taking place back in the day when the Chicano community was here.”

This mural is one of the historic Chicano community murals that Emanuel Project is working to preserve and share through restoration, education, storytelling and community murals. The organization’s work is rooted in the muralist movement that grew across Colorado and the American Southwest in the late 1960s and 1970s, when Chicano artists used public walls to tell stories that were often left out of schools, museums and civic institutions.

During that period, murals became public declarations of identity, resilience and belonging. They documented community struggles, celebrated culture and made neighborhood histories visible in places where residents could see themselves reflected.

Today, Emanuel Project builds on that legacy through three connected paths: creating new murals with youth and communities, preserving historic murals that are fading or at risk of being removed, and activating those works through educational curriculum, oral histories, exhibits and storytelling. While the organization does not have a set schedule for its Chicano mural tours, they are available upon request to anyone who is interested.

The organization is named for Martínez, whose own story helps explain its mission. According to Emanuel Project, Martínez began drawing with burned matchsticks while incarcerated as a teenager before becoming a nationally recognized artist and mentor. Founder Louisa Craft-Jornayvaz, a former art student of Martínez, started Emanuel Project in 2011 by working with youth in juvenile detention centers to create murals centered on leadership, identity and collaboration.

Through its Murals of Hope program, Emanuel Project has since created more than 50 murals in schools, juvenile justice programs and community spaces across the country. In 2018, the organization launched what became the Chicana/o/x Murals of Colorado Project, a grassroots preservation effort focused on restoring and protecting historic community murals.

“The Emanuel Project absorbed the Chicano Murals of Colorado Project,” said Lucha Martinez de Luna, executive director of the Emanuel Project. “Our mission has extended to where we continue to work with youth in detention centers, but we also have this other branch that works with the community in terms of preserving these murals.” 

At La Alma, those strands come together. Martínez painted the mural after returning to Denver from New Mexico. The project originally emerged during the filming of a documentary about Denver murals.

“I asked Parks and Recreation if I could use this wall,” Martinez said. “I didn’t really get paid for this mural initially. I did it for the film.” 

Rather than creating it alone, Martínez invited local young people to help bring the mural to life.

“I engaged a lot of the local youth to help me paint it,” he said. “People come here to take pictures in front of it and sometimes have events in front of it. So it’s definitely become a landmark here in Denver.”

His connection to the neighborhood stretches back even further. Martínez worked as a lifeguard at the community pool back in 1970 and later established an arts and crafts program. Today, the mural remains a reminder of the neighborhood’s Chicano roots, even as La Alma/Lincoln Park and the surrounding west-side community have changed dramatically.

“The whole area has been gentrified,” Martinez said. 

Those efforts have become increasingly urgent as historic murals disappear across Denver and Colorado. Some have been painted over. Others have faded, deteriorated or become vulnerable as buildings change hands and neighborhoods redevelop. In 2022, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Chicano/a/x community murals of Colorado on its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, highlighting the need to protect them before more are lost.

“The statistics for the amount of historic murals that we have lost in Denver is really depressing,” she said. “There are very few left.” 

One of the challenges, she said, is helping property owners, institutions and the public understand that murals are cultural and historical resources, not simply decoration.

“When I started this preservation work, I quickly realized that they don’t consider murals, their cultural integrity, artistic integrity, or historical integrity,” she said. “Essentially, murals in the state of Colorado were classified as just paint on a wall.” 

Emanuel Project’s preservation work includes documentation, artist-led condition assessments, community consultation, restoration, protective coatings and long-term care planning. But preservation is only one part of the work. The Emanuel Project also uses mural tours and educational programs to help people encounter the murals in place. Through neighborhood walks, classroom partnerships, oral histories and interpretive materials, the organization tries to turn murals into public learning spaces.

Martínez de Luna said those encounters are especially important for younger generations who may not know the history behind Chicano muralism or the neighborhoods where the murals were created.

“Once they realize how long this tradition has been going on, they’re pretty blown away,” Martinez de Luna said. 

At La Alma Recreation Center, restoration is underway to help the mural survive another generation. Martínez said the work has involved repainting the mural and preparing it for additional protection.

“I repainted the entire mural,” Martinez said. “We’ll be putting a protective coating on it and a graffiti guard to protect the mural. I think the mural will easily pass another 50 years.” 

For Martínez de Luna, restoring murals like this one sends a message beyond the wall itself. The work tells residents that the stories embedded in these public spaces still matter, even as neighborhoods change around them.

“The motivation of targeting these murals and restoring them is to give a very strong message that these murals matter,” Martínez de Luna said. “They’re very important to our community.” 

That vision also aligns with the purpose that has guided Martínez’s work for decades. Murals, he said, are not only images. They are records of community life, struggle and pride.

“That’s the reason why I do murals,” Martínez said. “I want the legacy of these murals to go on living.”