A Beating heart

Artist: Carlos Rodriguez (2024)

Carlos Rodriguez’s complex and layered mural design engages all surfaces of the 706 square feet restroom building adjacent to the Plata Arroyo Skate Park. The artwork features four distinct murals on each side of the building, unified by design elements and lettering inspired by vintage cannery labels. Plata Arroyo and San Jose are painted in bold lettering on the west side of the building that faces King Road. Decorative borders composed of leaves and roses surround the words, serving as a place marker for visitors to the park.

On the north side of the building, Rodriguez’s composition features scenes rendered in black and white that depict the history of past generations and honor the work of Cesar Chavez. Conceptually, this panel represents the hard labor endured by workers to provide new paths of empowerment. These vignettes are surrounded by colorful borders and images of fruit, another reference to the neighborhood’s agricultural past.

On the east side of the building, Rodriguez depicts the past and present Plata Arroyo neighborhood, inspired by Lower Silver Creek that runs along the north side of the park. A young boy stands holding an Ohlone basket, surrounded by the animals of the Ohlone creation story, coyote, hawk, owl, turtles, hummingbird, and a woodpecker. About this composition, the artist states “this is the heart of Plata Arroyo.”  He further animates the panel with a vignette of young children playing and catching crawdads in the river, a memory shared by many community members who attended the visioning meeting with the artist.

On the east side of the building, Rodriguez depicts the past and present Plata Arroyo neighborhood, inspired by Lower Silver Creek that runs along the north side of the park. A young boy stands holding an Ohlone basket, surrounded by the animals of the Ohlone creation story, coyote, hawk, owl, turtles, hummingbird, and a woodpecker. About this composition, the artist states “this is the heart of Plata Arroyo.”  He further animates the panel with a vignette of young children playing and catching crawdads in the river, a memory shared by many community members who attended the visioning meeting with the artist.

District:

Report a Concern: (408) 793-4330 or publicart@sanjoseca.gov.

Documents

• A Beating Heart ~ Fact Sheet

Features

• (Public Art) Murals
• (Public Art) Permanent Artworks