By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s latest mural is a love letter to the things that make this city unique.
“¡Buenas con Del Rio!” is the first solo mural done by local artist Krystal “Kiki Ace” Acevedo and is designed to resemble a game of loteria, a classic Mexican game similar to bingo, complete with its colorful cards and the bottle caps and beans used as markers. It’s been played by friends and families for centuries and has inspired countless versions that celebrate everything from pop culture to millennial life. Even the mural’s title is a play on the exclamation of “¡Buenas!” that is hollered by the person who wins the game.
Lupita De La Paz, executive director of the Casa de la Cultura, explained that the mural itself is a joint collaboration between the Casa and the City of Del Rio, funded through grants. The two entities worked together as the city provided the expenses associated with the mural, such as paint, while the Casa provided the artist. The city also donated the use of the rear exterior wall of the Boys and Girls Club offices located off West De La Rosa Street near the Joe Ramos Center and Dr. Alfredo Gutierrez Jr. Amphitheater.
There are 14 cards featured in total. The subjects of most of the cards were selected from submissions sent to the Casa after administrators there asked for ideas from the public. Acevedo said she saw several of the same submissions, making those easy choices for the mural, while other submissions were more personal but still a part of Del Rio.
“As you can see, the mural is loteria-themed and is inspired by Del Rio. Just like in the game, there’s a number that correlates to each card, and the beans are all scattered about. I know that there are things that may be missing, and I’ll eventually get around to doing another series on canvas, but believe me it was tough to narrow it down to the 14 cards you see here,” Acevedo said as she explained the mural during its official unveiling Tuesday afternoon.
Work on the mural began in August. Acevedo said she would work on the mural three to four times a day each week, especially on the weekends. Each day she would spend four to six hours on the mural, aided early on by her mother, Sandy Acevedo; her niece, Mia Acevedo; and several volunteers.
There are staples of the San Felipe neighborhood – “EL BROWN PLAZA,” “EL SAN FELIPE CREEK,” “LOS SAN FELIPE MUSTANGS,” and “LA CASA DE LA CULTURA,” which Acevedo chose because it was “the place that helped me explore my creative side more and allowed me to display my art.”
There are events that have always called Del Rio home, like “LA FIESTA DE AMISTAD” and “GEORGE PAUL MEMORIAL BULL RIDING.”
There are food items that are unique to Del Rio, like “EL GBC,” which is short for the breakfast specialty guisado, bean and cheese taco, and “LOS TACOS TAPATIOS,” which is the number 12 card because they come in orders of six for a half order or a dozen for a full order.
There are also Del Rio twists on traditional cards, like “LA BOTELLA,” or “The Bottle” which is represented by a bottle of win from Del Rio’s historic Val Verde Winery; “EL NOPAL,” which shows the familiar cactus that grows throughout the city; and “LA CORONA,” which is represented by the logo of Del Rio High School’s Queens athletic programs.
“It’s just a women empowering women kind of thing. Del Rio is known for its Ram Pride, but the girls put in the hard work, too. So I just wanted to give them a little shout out on that,” Acevedo said in regards to using the Queens logo.
And there are locations and landmarks that call Del Rio home – “EL LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE,” for the largest pilot training base in the country and is marked by the number 42, which represents the year it was created – 1942; and “EL PESCADO”, for Lake Amistad, which is home to some of the best bass fishing in the world and is marked by the number 14, which is minimum number of inches a smallmouth bass can be to be considered a legal catch in Texas.
The card that is dearest to Acevedo’s heart is “LA BOTA,” or “The Boot.” Usually portrayed as a shiny black boot, Acevedo’s version is a brown and tan cowboy boot meant to resemble the kind her late father, Tony Acevedo, would wear. Acevedo brought those boots to the mural unveiling and fought back tears as she explained the card’s origin.
“One card that may not be recognizable to many but it happens to represent my favorite part of Del Rio, that’s my dad Tony Acevedo. I remember how he would kick off his work boots after a long day and shine up his dress boots before going out with my mom. This card is dedicated to him, and I know he’s proud of me,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said she didn’t have a set number of cards she wanted to work on. She said she considered adding additional cards, but decided to stick to her original plan. She also said the choice of font for the card’s titles and numbers were purposely selected to mimic their smaller counterparts.
Art has been a part of Acevedo’s life since 2009-10. She had her first show at the Casa in 2011, but when she helped her friend, and fellow artist, Gabriella Rosales with some of her murals, she said that experience helped her learn about murals and what it takes to create them. She also does face painting.
De La Paz said her favorite parts of the mural are the Brown Plaza card and the “frijolitos,” or “small beans” located around the mural and on the sidewalk in front of the mural.
“I can’t wait for the future projects that you will do in Del Rio,” De La Paz said.
As for Acevedo’s next mural, it will be located on an exterior wall on the restrooms near the amphitheater, but the details are still under wraps.
“I have one coming up. It’s another small one over here on that building. I kind of wanted to work on the two together but that just wasn’t possible as you see the size of this thing, but yes, I do hope to do more,” Acevedo said.
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