Esperanza Solar Mural at Brackenridge Elementary
The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, in collaboration with the Land Art Generator Initiative, South Texas Solar Systems, Inc., and the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), has unveiled the world’s first Land Art Generator Solar Mural artwork at Brackenridge Elementary, at the intersection of Guadalupe and South Brazos Streets in San Antonio.
This Land Art Generator is an artwork that produces renewable energy consisting of 18 60-cell solar panels (via Esperanza Peace and Justice Center) “coated with image-embedded photovoltaic film. Fifty extant Fotohistorias fotobanners along Guadalupe Street will be illuminated with electricity produced by the Solar Mural artwork.” The artwork will be able to light these fotobanners at night for the next 30 years.
“The artwork imagery consists of a 1906 sepia-toned class picture of students at J.T. Brackenridge Elementary School in its original location, juxtaposed to a 2018 full color image of 76 J.T. Brackenridge fifth-grade science students.” The work also includes text by Chicana poet Carmen Tafolla, and image embellishment by local artist Adriana Garcia.
