Telling the story of Juan Diego’s mystical vision of Our Lady
By Dolores Cullen, Storm Lake Times Pilot
A mosaic mural by artists from Zacatlan, Mexico, will be given to St. Mary’s Church in Storm Lake as a gift this summer.
A 5.6’ wide by 4’ tall mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Mexican peasant Juan Diego will be created by the same artists who did the beautiful mosaic of the Storm Lake welcome sign and the portrait of Storm Lake Times Pilot Editor Art Cullen presented at Witter Gallery last October.
Artist Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo and two or three other artists will begin the project in Zacatlan, with plans of arriving in Storm Lake in May to finish it at Witter Gallery. Interested community members will be invited to help.
The effort could take up to two months and the finished product will be placed inside the church.
“A story about the Virgin of Guadalupe in the Storm Lake Times nudged me to think, ‘Could Zacatlan artists copy and gift the Virgin to St. Mary’s in Storm Lake?’” said patron of the project Dick Davis.
Davis toured the church when he and Mary Carmen visited in October.
The mural would be copied from an existing one in Zacatlan at the entrance to Callejon de Hueso (Bone Alleyway).
That mosaic, by Zefe Cruz, follows the underlying drawing by Paco Posadas. “Unfortunately Paco died of Covid before the vaccine became available,” said Davis. “He is greatly missed.”
“My thought was that not just Virgin of Guadalupe, but the story of Juan Diego should be told, which is on the wall plaque next to the mosaic,” added Davis. “I would think we’d have two plaques (in Storm Lake), the second in English.”
“St. Mary’s is excited and looks forward to accept the mural that will be done by the artists when they are here,” says St. Mary’s pastor Father Brent Lingle, “The Church has a long standing tradition of supporting local artisans to bring beauty and expression to our faith and we are excited to be part of that legacy.”
The idea of multiple mosaic murals around the City of Storm Lake as public art, under the guidance of the Zacatlan group, may actually become reality.
Separate from the St. Mary’s project, Davis, of California, offered $10,000 for the creation of a mural somewhere in Storm Lake if that figure could be matched.
The City of Storm Lake came through with the amount at last Monday’s City Council meeting.
“This is just the beginning of what we hope to do depending on the fundraising and interest in the community, which is high,” says Witter Gallery Board President Julie Steinfeld.
She called the donation of the mural to St. Mary’s, “So generous.” She is looking for places for the artists to stay when they come to Storm Lake.
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