hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. chicano proportions. ♪ ♪ and we do begin with that beautiful artwork at stanford university. it was painted by the late antonio, former guest here on comunidad he will virgin "comunidad del valle." with us is a legend in the bay area, he's done incredible work as well. the director of community

engaged, learning and arts intensive programs at stanford university. we'll start with gina. gina, welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me. good to be here. >> when i started classes the san jose state, one of the first images in the chicano studies classes was the last supper. talk about the artwork, how long it's been there and what it means to stanford. >> well, it's a treasure for many of us in the region, and certainly toahose of us who attended stanford in the last several decades. it was created by antonio in the late 1980s when i was at stanford. it has particular value to me and my peers and many generations. >> we do have some images, before and after pictures, what antonio envisioned. we'll go to you. tell us about being asked to kind of touch up what happened with the paintings over time,

and what the -- what your goal is at this time. >> well, you know, for me, i think a lot of -- >> go ahead. >> so, for me it -- i'm getting a lot of echo. >> why don't you remove one ear phone from one ear, carlos, see if that helps. if not -- >> yeah, that helps. so, for me it is a big honor, as big as some of the other projects that have done in my career certainly. to be asked to touch his art, especially antonio. he is, after all, one of my

camarenos of the early days of the movement. as you know, he's a pro writer. for me, the san joaquin valley and coming to this area, i actually did get a chance to become a friend of him. we did things together, last year in san jose. >> all right. we're going to go to gina next. carlos, you might want to switch your earphones. that's the one with the microphone on. but, gina, talk about the condition of the artwork now and what needs to be done or what needed to be done. >> well, the mural, the last supper of chicano heroes, exists

in a dining hall, which a lot of student activity and life takes place. so while it's interior, which is good for a mural, as carlos knows, it's a dining hall, an active dining hall, students eating [ inaudible ] for the longevity of the mural. so it was exciting to have someone of carlos' caliber, a rich legacy both with jose antonio's work and carlos' work a added and his team. it was important to do those touch-ups and what the students remnants might be in that dining hall, and also leave it for them to appreciate and acknowledge for the future. >> so, gina, in no way was stanford going to say, well, it's time. the elements have hit -- we're going to let it go and let it

stay up the way it is. >> yeah, i mean, the dining hall staff and the residential and dining enterprises operation was extremely supportive of this collaboration. it took a lot of years and a lot of discussion, a lot of effort by a lot of people in stanford's residence area, with the dorm itself, and residential education. and even art professors new and old, to the campus. we put a lot of effort and conversation into making sure that -- and everyone was on board, understanding what a unique treasure this is and that it's just not acceptable for it to go by the wayside or to be left to ruins. >> what is the other one, the mythology and the history of the maise? >> it's a trip tick, the center piece called the last supper of

chicano heroes. it's a triptick in the hall, they're all linked by the story of maise in our country, in our world. maise is on the left panel and cycle of life and together with the cycle of chicano heroes. >> it is at stanford university. it's been there several decades. the mythology and history of maise of chicano supper. we'll be back and talk more with them. stay with us.

we're back on he will v"coml valle." we're back with carlos. an unwritten rule where you don't touch another artist's

artwork. tell us about this being one of those exceptions. >> well, in this particular case, the artist is deceased and so it's -- it becomes complicated. you need to speak to the family to let them know it's taking place. there was a lot of damage to the mural for a variety of different reasons. everything from food being thrown on the mural because it is a common, dining common, and i believe that some of the teens sometimes can have food fights in there. so a lot of the food ended up on the mural, believe it or not. and in addition to that, there was a lot of cracking, in particular, in one corner. so we had to determine, number one, what was causing the cracking to take place.

so we did a scientific study behind it. we looked on the other side of the wall. we determined there was a wall, part of the picture that came out vertically from the horizontal where it was cracking. on the other side of that wall, it was a really, really heavy wall -- a door that would swing to separate, and that door because it was so heavy, it was jogging the wall and causing the crack to continue to be created in that corner. so that was our biggest task, believe it or not, to get to the bottom of how do we solve that effectively. and we really can't change anything, what the artist did when you're doing restoration work like this. you have to respect the artist's brush stroke, so to speak.

and so it is then up to the artist to determine, you know, what needs to be fixed, how it needs to be fixed, and then you proceed to fix it and hopefully you end up with a good result. i had a team of three people that i was working with. one was the conservator we leaned on for the project. and then i had myself as a master painter and another individual that also was a master painter. and between the three of us, we solved all the issues as we went along. we ended up conserving three large-scale murals, two of them

tryptic, the other a large painting. these are historical, so you have to be very cautious as to approach touching somebody else's work. >> i didn't realize it's not just about touch-up. there is a scientific study that needs to be performed. that's pretty incredible. >> yeah. the fact that we figured out that that wall was moving every time that that door opened and it was causing the cracking in that corner to take place, those are the kinds of things we had to look at. i mean, we really did -- on one of the pieces they did, it was a triptic on panel, of wood, wood that you found at home depot or whatever. and so it wasn't very, very good painting surface.

so what began to happen is everywhere where the mural was put together, it was a pretty long mural. probably close to about 13 feet long. and then the panels -- there were 4 foot panels. when they constructed this, there were 4-foot wide panels to make a 14 or 15-feet long mural. what was happening with that mural was it was cracking along those butt joints of the wood that was used as the base. so what we had to do was we had to actually scrape away in between that groove and create like a diamond-shape kind of shape, kind of like an edge surface went into the mural and then come back and fill that up with the proper material in order so it would last.

basically we created a wood fault and embedded it into that groove so it would become part of the wood that's already there. >> i had no idea -- >> and then we paint over it and you end up with, you know, the piece being restored from the cracking. >> i had no idea you were an architect and carpenter. i thought you were an artist and painter. that's awesome work. again, if you want more information, this is stanford university, the dining commons there. it's mythology and history of maise artwork. we'll be back and talk more about this very important topic.

(soft music) hey dad, i'm about to leave. don't forget your hat . good morning. how can i help? i need help connecting with my students. behind every last minute save, ok, that works. and holiday surprise, thank you! a customer service rep is working unseen, making it happen. and at genesys, we're proud to help them help you everyday.

we're back here on "comunidad del valle." gina, we're talking about the beautiful murals at the dining

commonst a stanford university. carlos is talking about doors banging and walls cracking. is there anything going to be done to change where the murals stand and bring carlos back in 40 years and have him redo it again? or what's the plan? >> well, god willing, we'll all be here in 40 years. it was exciting to work with carlos and his team to do the work that was necessary to understand what was needed. the idea that the door, despite all the students and the activity, the door was really the architectural thing that was impacting the musral the most. that was important to find out. thankfully we have been able to remove the door and let carlos' team do the work that was necessary. the students appreciate the work is there and they recognize what a unique place cast a zapata is

because of the existence of these murals. the usual dust and dirt and food that might be spread around inadvertently will probably return and we'll hope to make sure we can keep it to its full luster for many, many generations to come. i know it was particularly meaningful to rebecca borsiaga who is an educator here in the bay area, and for her to see her father's work restored to its beautiful, not original, but in a way that will last. >> yes, absolutely. cecilia and antonio are legends, former guests of comunidad. good to see the preservation will remain there at casa zapata. even non-latinos can appreciate it. carlos, a decade ago, we did a

story on you, you were a legend before then. you were the artist who rendered the artwork for the original apple logo. >> that's correct, in 1975. between 1975 and 1980, i worked at mckenna advertising agency where i was the artist at hand that was asked to render the original renderings of the apple logo. >> i mean, that is -- who doesn't have an apple? [ laughter ] you're a legend in the tech world and just in every common household because of that. but how much meaningful -- i don't know if it's more or the same, was this assignment in touching the artwork of a chicano legend such as jose? >> you know, for me this is my

cultura, mexicano. i'm indigenous as well. so for us, receiving a project such as this, the apple logo has to do with a corporate sort of mentality. but this project has something to do with me personally, my culture, the values that are represented by, by antonio -- jose antonio in the chicano movement of that time, to continue to today are the values that are instilled in the things that i want to do as an artist. so, you know, besides splitting my time between doing projects for corporate clients, i also do a lot of community work and here

in san jose, i work with various different organizations that have the same values that i have. and so i look to those kinds of opportunities to engage myself into them, and become part of that fabric that is part of my culture as well as the silicon valley, i also have been part of that whole creation. >> that's wonderful. we have about 30 seconds. any final thoughts, carlos, before we let you go? >> yeah, let me read a real quick little quote from antonio. he said this. he said, words were flowers, metaphors that gave birth to some creative dreams of the spirit in action.

and that's something that i value as an artist as well because i see my cultural roots in that quote, as well as the spirit in action. we have to be active. we have to -- whatever it is that we're doing, we need to aspire, as you will, to create action in our lives. >> that's wonderful. amazing, you did a great job. it's there at stanford. i want to go to gina now, she's representing stanford university. gina, is there anything you want to add before i let you go on "comunidad del valle"? go ahead. >> no, carlos' work is all over the globe with that apple logo and other projects at airports, all sorts of places across the region. we really hope with this restoration and the education that can go behind and continue

to teach students and others about this important mural and e rest of the murals in casa zapata, it will also be the kind of work that the world sees from silicon valley and our community. >> awesome. gina, thank you so much. both you and carlos, thankou for being on the show and for preserving a piece of chicano history. >> thank you. >> here's information once again. it is at stanford university. the murals are the mythology and history of maez. and the last supper of chicano heroes or the last chicano supper. we'll be back. stay with us.

we'll give you our contact information. if you want to get hold of us, follow me on twitter. @news damian trujillo and pickup a copy of our paper and support the bilingual weekly across the bay area. we thank our guests carlos and gina for being on the show.

we'll leave you with the legends of latin rock. thank you for joining us. we'll see you again next week. >> you might remember this song. it's called "love the way." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ i love the way you make me love you ♪ ♪ i love the way you make me smile ♪ ♪ i love the way you make me want you ♪ ♪ so sit right down, stay awhile ♪ ♪ 'cause with you by my side i know i can make it ♪ ♪ you just give me your love, i want you so much and i love you ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ of all the times we've been together ♪ ♪ was it so hard to let them go ♪ ♪ but could it be we'll last forever ♪ ♪ and only time will let us know ♪ ♪ 'cause with you by my side i know i can make it ♪ ♪ you just give me your love ♪ i want you so much and i love

you ♪ ♪ and i need you ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i love the way you make me love you ♪ ♪ i love the way you really do ♪ for me there could be no other ♪ ♪ just thinking the things that we've been through ♪ ♪ 'cause with you by my side i know i can make it ♪

[siren blaring] johnny devenanzio: this is me being able to get a second shot at something that i loved as a kid, and that is becoming a firefighter. i don't think it's any more essential than that. [theme music] when it comes to emergencies like california wildfires, floods in the south, or even tornadoes on the great plains,