One of the oldest Chicano murals in the country resides in Sacramento. Here’s where

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Inside Sacramento’s Washington Neighborhood Center, a mural bursting with black, yellow and red hues pays tribute to the Chicano community and its decades of activism.

The mural — the Emergence of the Chicano Social Struggle in a Bi-cultural Society — has resided in the center since 1970, serving as the city’s oldest Chicano mural. But its significance stretches beyond Sacramento, with some historians calling it one of the oldest Chicano murals in the country.

“This gem that exists inside the neighborhood center, as far as my knowledge or expertise, is the oldest mural of the community mural movement era,” said Ella Diaz, a professor in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at San Jose State.

Diaz’s first experience with the mural was in the early 2000s while conducting dissertation research on its artist, Esteban Villa, one of the co-founders of the Royal Chicano Air Force — a celebrated group of Mexican American artists. Villa died in 2022.

Formed in late 1960s, the group began paintings murals on the campus of Sacramento State. By 1979, they had produced 15 murals in Sacramento. Their art coincided with the rise of labor leader Cesar Chavez and the Chicano movement’s push for political and social rights.

In 2018, the Royal Chicano Air Force and Villa unveiled a three-panel mural inside the Golden 1 Center.

In many of their murals, Villa and his colleagues told stories of the Mexican-American struggle. The group used the arts as tools for change and social justice, said Stan Padilla, a RCAF member who painted alongside Villa.

“This is the first time we told our own stories, our own way,” Padilla said.

Villa’s mural in the Washington Neighborhood Center is particularly important because of when it was painted, Padilla said. Back then, most Chicano muralists created their work on walls or fences, not on established institutions or locations.

More importantly, Padilla said, this work was undeniably a Chicano mural. It contained references to El Grito — one of the most iconic Mexican civic celebrations and the name of the first Chicano literary journal published in the U.S. — and included the United Farm Workers eagle logo in its backdrop. The word “Chicano” was even in the title, Padilla added.

“He couldn’t have painted that outside of Sacramento during that time,” Padilla said. “It wouldn’t have been socially accepted. That’s historical.”

A free symposium on the mural and Villa will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Washington Neighborhood Center, located at 400 16th Street. The event will feature artists and historians celebrating the mural’s significance.