Gardens, children playing basketball, and a mischievous chicken illustrate the community of La Yarda in a mural to be installed soon.
Lawrence artist Javy Ortiz has finished painting six panels to honor La Yarda, an East Lawrence housing unit where Mexican American railroad workers and their families lived in 1920-51.
Some people depicted in the artwork are based on real life photos of La Yarda residents at that time. Others are based on oral histories. Ortiz said he aimed to connect his imagination with reality.
Ortiz, 31, grew up in Kansas, was born in Ciudad Juárez — a city in Mexico located just south of El Paso, Texas — and has family from Durango, Mexico. He said he related to experiences of former La Yarda residents, aligning generations.
“Especially being Mexican myself, I thought it was really neat to listen to all of their stories and just see how much of a connection we all have as a culture,” Ortiz said. “It’s cool to see how that culture carries on into the U.S. — right into these communities.”
Working on the mural also gave Ortiz experience in figurative work, an opportunity he felt to grow as an artist. His speciality is abstract art with crisp, sleek edges.
The completed panels will adorn fences on the Lawrence Loop trail system at the intersection of Eighth and Delaware streets, within a few blocks of where the neighborhood once stood. A major flood wiped away the complex in 1951.
But the community did not leave after the flood. Ortiz met separately with five families of former La Yarda residents and their relatives during his process. Many of the same memories flowed, just told through the lens of each family and individual.
“I had just kind of this belief that, well, it probably wasn’t the best living,” Ortiz said. “And it wasn’t the best living conditions. They didn’t even have electricity, you know; one water source. But the community and the togetherness just brought out so much happiness. Everything was just an overall happy feeling.”
The Lawrence Arts Center in September 2024 selected Ortiz to complete the public works, in collaboration with LiveWell Douglas County and the City of Lawrence Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture.
Ortiz said he was able to finish an average of one panel each month, beginning in March.
Installation is set for September, followed by a public celebration. A ribbon cutting ceremony at the mural location is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 at Eighth and Delaware streets.
Afterward, the celebration will travel down the trail with Mariachi musicians leading the way for a 6 p.m. reception at Van Go, 715 New Jersey St. Refreshments will be provided, and Kansas City-based band Maria the Mexican will perform live.
Read more about the work to bring La Yarda’s history to life on findinglayarda.com.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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