During Hispanic Heritage Month, West Chester University is honoring Latinx culture with what will become a permanent installation in Sykes Student Union: a custom mural by the renowned Chilean artist and activist Alejandro “Mono” González.

González was the keynote for the 15^th annual Latinx Communities Conference and spoke not only on making art but about art’s social impact on Thursday, Sept. 28.

González is on WCU’s campus this week with his son Sebastián González and assistants and is currently painting the mural on the second floor of Sykes. He has spoken with classes and held a printmaking masterclass with WCU art students.

Daniela Johannes, originally from Chile, associate professor of languages and cultures, is the director of the Latino Communities Conference and is responsible for bringing Gonzalez to WCU for the conference and creating the mural. She notes that Sept. 11, 1973 (“the other 9/11,” she said), was the Chilean coup d’etat, and “Gonzalez was part of the movement, painting clandestinely during the dictatorship.”

His visit to WCU coincides with the 50^th anniversary month of the coup.

In the late 1960s, Gonzalez founded La Brigada Ramona Parra, a street arts informal school and a collective of young painters who left a heritage of visual social messages on the walls and public buildings of Santiago, Chile. During the Chilean dictatorship, several of Mono’s authored murals were covered with white paint but were later restored and declared national monuments of heritage during the Chilean democracy.

Johannes calls the mural “an educational monument that honors the heritage” of WCU’s Latinx students and employees. She is also director of the Philadelphia Consortium of Latin American Studies.

González’ other works are also on display in “Mono & Mural,” an exhibit of his work in WCU’s Baker Gallery in E.O. Bull Center through Friday, Oct. 13.

Learn more at West Chester University.