The murals at Chicano Park have always been a work in progress, telling a story of a people's struggles.

This week, three generations of Chicano artists worked on mural No. 48, which is taking shape on a 115-foot-long wall under Interstate 5 running along Cesar Chavez Parkway. Their goal was to get as much as possible done for the 32nd anniversary celebration of Chicano Park, which begins today at 10 a.m.

Some of those painting the new mural hadn't even been born when the park was founded or when the first murals were painted in 1973.

"This is a lifetime story," said Mario Torero, 55, who helped paint the first murals and is overseeing the new mural. "We've only just begun."

The new mural celebrates the latest chapter in Barrio Logan history, the recent renaming of Crosby Street in honor of Chavez, the Mexican-American hero who died in 1993. The design mixes ancient Aztec and Inca symbols with images of Chavez, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo graces a panel devoted to Chicana perspective. Modern images are also included, with one panel featuring skateboarders.

Community pride is celebrated in a panel showing a map of the various Latino neighborhoods that are now linked by Chavez Parkway. Torero began the drive to rename the street in the mid-1990s.
Like the founding of the park in 1970, the painting of the murals has been a bonding experience.

Torero and Victor Ochoa were in their early 20s when they painted their first murals. Now they're supervising teen-age graffiti artists who have been spray-painting the chalk sketchings made by Torero and a younger artist, Christopher Oleata.

"We feel we can work with these kids because they're our own kids and they're creative," Torero said.

Artist Irisbelle Flores, 32, went over a sketch for the new mural -- a butterfly representing a girl becoming a woman -- with the Romero sisters, Blanca, 17, Stephanie, 14, and Nancy, 6.

"They're my inspiration," said Flores, who teaches at King- Chavez charter school nearby and coordinates a young artists group called Pinta, ChocoLatina. "They remind me of the creativity that's hidden in many of our youths that mainstream education doesn't particularly tap into."

The youths are working under the auspices of the artists group called Fuerza, which means strength in Spanish. Fuerza received a grant from the San Diego Foundation for Change and is working on the murals with various youth groups.

Ochoa says the murals are considered sacred by many. "We were blown away (during a recent check of the park) to find only two small tags in all 47 murals," he said. "That's respect."

Torero takes comfort in knowing the art work will be continued by younger generations. "As you can see the second generation is already at it," Torero said. " . . . We want them to move forward and take our place."

Mari Carmen Linares Kalo, 31, wasn't even born in 1970 when Barrio Logan residents took possession of the land under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, where the murals now stand. Area residents, young and old, formed a human chain to stop bulldozers clearing the area for a California Highway Patrol station, insisting that it be preserved for the close-knit neighborhood that had been splintered by construction of I-5 and the bridge.

Linares said she knew she wanted to be a part of the park's history from the moment she saw its colorful murals, most of them painted between 1973 and the early 1980s. She helped clean the park and worked closely with the Chicano Park Steering Committee, which organizes the annual celebration.

Finally, she got permission to paint mural No. 47, which she completed last year. It honors the men and women who have died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border to find work in the United States.

"I wanted to do something with a strong message," Linares said, adding that she wanted to maintain the park's tradition of mixing politics with art.

"All the murals here are about struggle. About all the things that we as Mexicans, Mexicanos, Chicanos experience."