In mid-February, when the landscape outside UNC鈥檚 Campus Commons was a monochromatic winter palette, artist and UNC alumnus Armando Silva 鈥�10 was at work creating a mural inside the building that would commemorate the C茅sar Chavez Cultural Center鈥檚 35th anniversary. When he finished, the white expanse of wall across from the building鈥檚 main entrance had been sparked with vibrant colors and a portrait of the center鈥檚 long-time director, Patricia Escobar.    

The mural, titled 鈥淪omos Porque Eres鈥� (We Are Because You Are), is layered with meaning, colors and words intended to evoke a sense of welcome, acceptance and home, and to encapsulate culture, caring, activism and a legacy of 鈥減aying it forward.鈥�  

鈥淭he mural has actually been student-led, and a lot of it started with our student staff here,鈥� says Jo茅l Orozco Almeida, CCCC鈥檚 associate director, adding that students Ydrenni Caparachini and Miriam Renteria Gonzalez, both seniors in Mexican American Studies, were instrumental in carrying the project forward since its inception in fall 2020.   

Once the location was approved with the enthusiastic blessing of UNC leadership, Silva began to conceptualize options with the students. The idea of Escobar鈥檚 portrait being central to the mural was one that resonated.   

鈥淲hen folks 鈥� especially students 鈥� thought about what 鈥榩aying it forward鈥� looks like, they thought of Patricia, who has been the at the Ch谩vez Center for 25 years, and director for 13 of those years, and she is just like the epitome of someone paying it forward,鈥� Orozco Almeida says.  

Silva placed words throughout the mural, and close to the portrait of Escobar is one that many students connect with her.   

鈥溾�楳ijita,鈥欌�� Silva says, 鈥渋s like 鈥榤y little daughter,鈥� or 鈥榤y sweet daughter.鈥� It鈥檚 very endearing, and it鈥檚 one of those words that Trish uses when she鈥檚 engaging with a lot of her students. But that can also be something just in the Spanish-speaking community that is very endearing. It feels very welcoming. It feels very like, 鈥業鈥檓 your elder, but I鈥檓 going to take care of you. I鈥檓 going to welcome you into this space.鈥欌�� The mural was revealed via a Zoom meeting on February 18, surprising Escobar, who didn鈥檛 know that she was the subject of the mural.   

鈥淚t鈥檚 me! Oh my, I didn鈥檛 know. Oh my,鈥� she said, removing her glasses to wipe away tears.  

鈥淚t is a tip of the hat, a thank you, to Trish for being that force, that energy, that allows us to continue to be ourselves; to celebrate everything that is around that soul, that estrella, that comes from the Cultural Center itself,鈥� Silva says.