Centro de la Comunidad seeks good home for mystery mural
New London — The operators of Centro de la Comunidad are looking for a good home for a huge mural that depicts the history of Puerto Rico.
They also hope to solve the mystery of the colorful, three-panel mural that leans against a back wall of the community hall at Centro's facility at 109 Blinman St. The artist's name is in the left corner of the mural, along with the year 1978, but it's not clear whether it says Mayple, Marple, Maale, or some other variation of those letters.
Since the mural is for sale, more information would be helpful.
"Rather than have it here, we would like to see if we can sell it to a museum that can preserve it," said Elizabeth Garcia, executive director of Centro. The mural has been at Centro since Garcia arrived 11 years ago but she worries it will be damaged.
The center, which Garcia emphasizes is open to the Latino community and anyone else who wants to participate, offers educational, employment and cultural programs for youths and adults. Garcia, whose dream is to make Centro a full-service community center, said proceeds from the sale of the mural could be used to renovate the building, which was formerly a synagogue, and could help pay for new computers for job searches and cultural programs, such as the annual Three Kings Day celebration.
The nonprofit organization receives money from a number of different sources, including private donations, and rents out the community hall and an upstairs office. The center serves about 1,000 people a year and works with other community organizations, and there's never enough money to meet the need.
"We have many projects, many things to do," said Lizbeth Polo-Smith, an active volunteer at the center.
The Centro staff and board will be sad to see the mural go but know it'll be for the best, Garcia said.
The mural depicts hundreds of years of the history of the island also known, in Spanish, as Borinquen, starting in the left corner with the huts inhabited by the indigenous Taino people, the arrival of one of Christopher Columbus' ships and the inhabitation on the island of Europeans and African slaves.
The middle panel contains images of cockfighting, the Catholic church, farming and festivals.
The third panel shows a bridge from Puerto Rico to New York City, which links the island's past with the present.
Garcia asks that anyone with information about the mural or interest in purchasing it call her at (860) 514-2381 or email her at LizNLboe@gmail.com.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
