Located in San Diego’s Barrio Logan, the Mercado del Barrio mural celebrates this community’s past and the local children’s hopes for their future. Betsy Schulz used a large red hand to represent past generations teaching and leading the children of today. The plants suggest more green landscape to come and the indigenous foods of the Mexican-Americans living in the area. The tree’s green leaves represent a brighter, greener future. Its roots symbolize family and community, and the photos are of families who have lived in Barrio Logan for several generations. Screened images of buildings and the Coronado Bridge show the most distinctive structures of the area. The cannery represents the industry that used to play a large part in the local economy. And finally, the students from Perkins Elementary School hand-wrote hopes for the future, and Schulz silk-screened their words onto clay tiles, presenting the statements as messages in bottles being released into the world.
