La Voz Es Poder

Themes: music, empowerment, culture

Created by Ricardo “NACO” Gonzalez, the mural “La Voz es Poder” portrays the vibrancies and festival aspect of Latino culture. The piece was completed in conjunction with muralist Erick “ROHO” Garcia, who painted the cement canvas on the right side of the wall. The piece is focused on music and empowerment as a way to pay tribute to the artist’s culture and ethnicity through the exposition of Latino and Chicago imagery.

Known for his pop culture imagery and pop art style, this mural features everything that encompasses Gonzalez’s work. Features include music note symbols, peace signs, hearts, cupcakes, bright colors, and various shapes that play into his love for vibrant pieces with very positive messages. This piece features a turntable with a life type heart in the center of the mural. This visual represents that music and heritage are at the heart and center of the culture and is something that is very valuable to the people.

The microphone off to the left features the word ‘fuerza’ or strength at the top with the name of the mural right above it “La Voz es Poder" meaning that the voice is power or even strength like the microphone depicts. This could help summarize and assume that the author hopes to empower the Latino community of Chicago to use their voice, either through music or just on its own, to speak out and share their message.

The right side of the mural includes the word ‘Musica’ or Music in Spanish and a face with a headdress on the side represents the Aztec symbolism and that cultural heritage aspect of Latinos.

This description was written by Lulu Romero, Notre Dame Class of 2024.