LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A new mural celebrating Latino Heritage Month is now on display at Parkdale Recreation Center, near Mountain Vista and Desert Inn.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom and the county’s Public Arts Office unveiled the mural Wednesday.
Artist designed mural with community input
The mural, titled “Viva Comunidad: Healing Through Unity,” was designed and painted by local artist Juan Cuevas, also known as Quetzal Visions.
Cuevas was chosen earlier this year to design and paint an existing Conex box at Parkdale. He facilitated an interactive session with community members and visitors to gather design feedback and inspiration for the project.
The mural depicts Cuevas’ friend Sochi, who died earlier this year and whom he described as a firekeeper. According to Cuevas, firekeepers burn copal and sage as an offering to ancestors. The mural shows smoke from that offering forming an axolotl, which Cuevas said serves as a guide to help people transition to the spirit world and connects the living world with the spirit world.
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The mural also includes an eagle and a condor, which Cuevas said references a story about unity between North America and South America and different Indigenous groups.
“For a lot of us who identify as Hispanic, we also have a lot of indigenous groups in this continent,” Cuevas said. “And so, I really just want to pay homage to that, to the original peoples of the land, and to just honor where we have come from and where we are going.”
Cuevas said the mural also features flowers and stars in the background. He said the stars represent ancestors, and the flowers represent the seeds of future generations.
County leaders say mural fosters community connection
“We honor your culture so much,” Segerblom said. “Las Vegas, Nevada, we were part of Mexico. We’re indigenous peoples are part of your indigenous peoples. So, we’re all big, one big family.”
Segerblom said the mural creates a welcoming space that celebrates cultural pride and community connection.
“Viva Comunidad: Healing Through Unity” is the second piece created through Clark County’s public art program that transformed a storage Conex box into a public art installation.
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