New murals unveiled at Healing Garden in honor of Aug. 3 victims

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Healing Garden at Ascarate Lake is a place where people can visit, pay respects, honor and reflect on the events that occurred August third but behind the memorial a group of artists want to convey another massage.

“Once we came here to the healing garden and heard the judge speak about his vision, it all shifted and changed to commemorate something so important and to also represent the community,” Blanca Estrada said.

For Blanca Estrada and Tino Ortega, every drop of paint and stroke of the brush is meaningful.

“When August third happened we saw everybody from all sorts of community’s come from all over the country and give back and being from here I wanted to give back to my community,” Tino Ortega said.

The artists said the idea for the mural didn’t come on a whim.

“I immediately knew I wanted nature on this. I wanted a lot of color because color makes me happy. We did not want this mural to be sad at all, we wanted it to represent not just the people we lost but also the survivors that are still fighting and all their families that are still here remembering. We want it to shift their mind to think of the possibility that we can still move on and be strong,” Estrada said.

The images depict people watering plants and hour glasses showing the passing of time and growth.

“Even if you’re starting from a bad day you can finish on a positive note or you can wait till the next day to have that hope inside you,” Ortega said.

The artists who are from El Paso, experienced the shock of August third like many of us. Now ,they are  uplifting the community in their own way.

“It’s just made it very personal and very emotional,” Ortega said.

“I get really emotional, it’s been an awesome experience,” Estrada added.

The mural will be unveiled at Ascarate Lake in The Healing Garden Saturday August 3rd.