In Center City Manchester, a mural will celebrate immigrants and their aspirations
COLON TIRE and Alignment’s building on Lake Avenue in Manchester is currently a blank canvas.
But soon, one large outside wall will turn into a mural celebrating love, unity and humanity, and Manchester’s growing immigrant communities — including Latinos, who comprise the largest ethnic minority in the Queen City and statewide.
“Manchester, what’s not to like? The people are great here. For me, if it’s something that is positive for the community, I’m all for it,” said Lisandro Colon, owner of Colon Tire and Alignment, who graduated from Manchester High School Central in 1997, and is part of the growing Hispanic and Latino business community in Center City.
Colon is hoping to close on the purchase of his building at the end of this month, then the painting will take another two to three weeks, depending on the weather.
Its positive potential is hard to overstate, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.
“It’s not just about Latinos,” said Jason Bonilla, a school board member from Manchester’s Ward 5, who has been instrumental in launching the project. “It encompasses all of our immigrant communities. Manchester has always been a community of immigrants. This mural will provide all of us with a sense of pride. We want to provide our young leaders with aspirations and images of representation” and a feeling that “we get nice things, too.”
“Center City has gotten a bad rap,” said Anthony Poore, director of the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity. He hopes this mural will spark other artists to propose public art projects throughout the city.
“We want to bring light to the important role that immigrants have played and amplify the positive,” he said. “Center City is a vibrant multicultural community that benefits from a myriad of perspectives as it always has.”
If community leaders have any say, Manchester may become a city of murals, and ethnic neighborhoods will host colorful, uplifting art. Today, Manchester’s immigrant and multicultural heritage plays out in small businesses and new business startups, restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, barbershops and hair salons. It’s also evident in Manchester schools, where students speak more than 60 languages. The Hispanic and Latino community comprises 13% to 15% of the Queen City’s population, Poore said.
Until now, “there was not many Spanish stores or barber shops” in Center City, said Colon. Now they are thriving. “It does make a difference because people feel comfortable going to someone who speaks their language,” he said.
Manuel ‘Manny’ Ramirez is co-founder and creative director of Positive Street Art, a Nashua-based organization of artists from historically marginalized communities, and also the lead artist for Colon’s mural.
The design is being finalized now, he said, and will use photos of Central High students as inspiration for the characters.
“I want it to be beautiful enough to inspire people. This entire country is made up of immigrants,” Ramirez said. “By finding these images by surprise, I hope to help young people to feel empowered … and feel some sense of confidence about whatever they want to do with their lives.” Multiple subjects in the mural “will portray a sense of community, regardless of your background and where you came from.”
Sandra Almonte, owner of Don Quijote, a Union Street restaurant that serves Caribbean food, held a fundraiser for the mural project at her establishment two months ago.
“It’s the start of beautification efforts in Center City,” she said, noting that Elm Street and the Millyard have been the focus of Manchester’s makeover and public art projects in the past.
“Hopefully homeowners and other businesses will get inspired and continue the beautification here. We want to have people from other communities drive through Center City and not be afraid to stop at Colon, my restaurant and the grocery stores,” Almonte said.
