UVALDE, Texas — You can’t pass through Uvalde’s Main Street without seeing brightly colored murals at every corner. Each one is a tribute to the 19 children and two teachers killed a year ago in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Uvalde artist Abel Ortiz commissioned the entire mural project nearly a year ago to honor the lives lost. Twenty-one portrait artists from Texas came together to paint the murals, a project that transformed Uvalde’s downtown.
“The murals won’t let us forget,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz told WFAA that over the last year, the murals have provided the victims’ loved ones with a space of comfort and calm.
“One victim, Rogelio’s family, has dinner in front of the mural,” Ortiz said. “Eva Mireles’ best friends used to drink coffee together every morning, so they have coffee in front of the mural now.”
For him, it’s evidence the murals are serving a purpose: healing.
“That healing is ongoing, because the pain gets heavier over time,” Ortiz said.
The quinceañera celebration victim Ellie Garcia dreamed of and 19 graduation celebrations won’t happen.
The Paris trip victim Jackie Cazares dreamed of vanished with her.
On the evening before the one-year mark, Jackie’s father, Javier Cazares stood in front of his daughter’s colorful mural. Tears fell from his face as he described the anticipation of the one-year mark.
“It’s gonna bring up a lot of emotions,” Cazares said.
Cazares has spent the last year pushing for accountability for law enforcement’s failed response during the shooting and advocation for gun reform.
As months passed after the tragedy, divisions throughout the small city deepened. Some residents have expressed their desire to move on and want constant reminders of the tragedy around town gone.
Cazares has a simple message for them:
“You didn’t lose a daughter. We have to live with this every single day for the rest of our lives,” Cazares said.
Several months ago, Ortiz had a coat of paint painted over each mural. It will protect the coat of paint for another 30 years, until another layer is added to preserve them. Although Ortiz hopes the murals will be permanently protected, the murals are located on various privately-owned buildings. Ortiz worries new building owners in the future may decide to have them removed.
He wants the message behind the art to last.
“We can’t put up with the status quo. We need to protect our children at any cost,” Ortiz said. For those [who] didn’t lose a child, they just wanna move on because they don’t wanna be defined by the tragedy. We’re not defined by the tragedy, we’re defined by how we respond to the tragedy,” Ortiz said.
If visual reminders of the children are too uncomfortable, the artist argues: That’s the point.