Blessing the Restoration of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Mural

Over the past several weeks, a meaningful community effort unfolded on San Antonio’s West Side around the restoration of the historic Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo mural at Cassiano Homes. The project brought together original mural artists Juan Hernandez and Anastacio “Tache” Torres, students and faculty from Our Lady of the Lake University, the Segundo de Febrero committee, and Opportunity Home San Antonio in a shared effort to preserve a work of art that carries deep historical and cultural meaning for the community. The mural, completed in 1980, is part of a larger tradition of Chicano muralism in the area and reflects the history, identity, and memory tied to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and its lasting impact on Mexican American communities.

OLLU’s participation grew out of its ongoing commitment to service-learning and community engagement. Students in the university’s Visual and New Media Arts program, supported by the Center for Service Learning and Volunteerism, worked alongside faculty and the original artists to help restore the mural with care and intention. Coverage of the project described this as more than a painting effort. It was also an act of cultural stewardship, intergenerational learning, and public remembrance, connecting classroom learning with the lived history of the West Side.

The restoration also fits into a broader history of reflection and public observance around the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at OLLU and in the wider community. Reporting noted that the university began observing the signing of the treaty in 1977 through the work of students and local activists, and that this year’s efforts were part of a renewed public engagement with that history. A related community conference at OLLU earlier in the year helped frame the treaty not only as a historical event, but as something with continuing significance for land, identity, belonging, and memory across generations.

By the end of March, the mural’s restoration had become a visible sign of what can happen when artists, students, historians, neighbors, and community partners work together in a spirit of care. Media coverage leading up to the event described the restoration as a way of ensuring that the stories carried by the mural remain present, recognized, and accessible for future generations. In that spirit, the blessing offered by Sister Rose Kruppa, CDP on Saturday, March 28, gave prayerful expression to what the event represented: gratitude for those who restored the mural, reverence for the peoples and histories reflected in it, and hope that this place will continue to speak of dignity, truth, healing, and shared humanity.

A Blessing for the Mural of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

May this mural stand as a song on the wall—
a tapestry of memory,
woven from earth-tones of sorrow and bright threads of resilience,
telling the story of peoples whose spirits the borders could not contain.

Bless the hands that shaped its colors,
hands guided by ancestors,
hands steady with devotion,
hands that coaxed history back into the light.
And bless, with deep gratitude,
all who tended to its restoration—
the quiet guardians of art and truth,
who brushed away dust, mended each edge,
and breathed new life into the stories sleeping beneath the paint.
May their labor be a lantern for future generations.

Bless the cultures reflected here—
Indigenous, Mexican, and all whose identity
was scattered and gathered again
in the long shadow of this treaty.
May this mural whisper their dignity,
shining like morning sun over open desert,
reminding us that no line drawn in ink
can sever the deep-rooted bonds of land, language, and spirit.

Bless every soul who pauses before this wall.
May they feel the weight of history,
the tenderness of memory,
and the steady pulse of hope rising—
hope for justice, for kinship,
for healing that refuses to grow silent.

And may this space, sanctified by art,
become a wellspring of peace—
where truth stands unafraid,
where cultures are honored like sacred altars,
and where the future is shaped
by hands committed to harmony and shared humanity.

Amen.

References:
https://ollulakeweekly.com/2026/03/23/restoring-history-reclaiming-community-ollu-joins-effort-to-revitalize-historic-treaty-mural/ https://homesa.org/cassiano-mural-preservation/
https://www.tpr.org/news/2026-03-25/the-mural-of-the-treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo-on-san-antonios-west-side-is-being-restored-this-week https://www.instagram.com/p/DWb6O9VDvMS/
https://sanantonioreport.org/our-lady-of-the-lake-san-antonio-treaty-of-guadalupe-free-conference/