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A public dedication was held Saturday morning to honor a new mural at Market Square Downtown. The 155-foot-long and 18-foot-tall mural is entitled “The Spirit Within”.
Hailey Marmolejo is one of the mural’s two lead artists.
“The mural is a representation of women and the work that they've done throughout the history of Market Square. Every element of the mural is female or symbolic of female, even down to the constellations they're all different, women constellations,” she told TPR.
The mural’s intricate design includes representations of Indigenous women, Spaniards, Tejanas and others.
“It's like the story of San Antonio along with the story of Market Square. We also have these birds representing the Chili Queens who were the originators of Market Square.
They're the ones that would come out and make chili, and everybody would come and buy their chili, and that's really how Market Square got started,” Marmolejo said.
She said “a lot of blood, sweat and tears” went into creating the mural, along with co-lead artist Ashleigh Garza.
“It's just an absolute honor to have my work on these walls, and I'm truly grateful and taken aback every time I go by it still. So I just thank you so much to the city and to everybody.”
The art is part of a series brought by San Anto Cultural Arts in conjunction with the City of San Antonio. They have placed almost 70 murals in different areas of the city
Cuauhtli Reyna is with San Anto Cultural Arts. He said the murals all connect with the heritage of San Antonio
“These are community murals. So wherever that community meets for this mural, it's their voice and their identity that's displayed on the wall."
Work on “The Spirit Within” mural was completed in 2022, but construction in the area delayed the dedication until now.
