Just weeks after bringing together Latino muralists from across Virginia for a collaborative project in Richmond, artist George Arturo is once again turning to public art.
Following the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent during an immigration enforcement operation in Houston last week, Arturo wants to donate his time and talent to create a memorial mural honoring the 52-year-old construction worker.
He’s offering to paint the mural for free. The only thing he needs is a wall.
“Growing up in New York we would memorialize people who passed on our neighborhood walls,” Arturo said. “There’s still one currently on my block in Brooklyn.”
Salgado Araujo, a Mexican father and longtime Houston resident, was shot July 7 during an ICE operation. Federal officials say an agent opened fire after Salgado Araujo attempted to use his work van as a weapon against officers. However, surveillance video obtained by CNN and witness accounts have raised questions about that version of events. The shooting remains under investigation, with local officials calling for an independent review.
For Arturo, memorial murals are part of a tradition that stretches back to the neighborhoods where he grew up.
“There’s no other way for me to express how I feel than to paint his face on a wall,” Arturo said. “Painting his face is a way of lifting him up as best I can. I don’t like how ICE can just target and hunt people down while they’re living everyday lives.”
Arturo said Salgado Araujo’s death struck a deeply personal chord. “It just hits home, man,” Arturo said. “My father builds houses just like that guy. My dad does the same thing every morning and it worries me. How ICE can just kill first, ask questions later.”
While the shooting has sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of ICE enforcement tactics nationwide, Arturo says his motivation isn’t political.
“It’s not about politics for me,” he said. “It’s about the disregard for human life.”
The proposal comes as Richmond residents prepare to gather Monday evening at Maggie Lena Walker Plaza for a community vigil honoring Salgado Araujo. Organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation Virginia, Richmond Artists Against Deportations, Richmond Defensa, the event is expected to include calls for accountability in the shooting and for the abolition of ICE.
Arturo’s proposal also comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE enforcement nationwide. Along with the Houston shooting, video of a violent ICE arrest in Suffolk has drawn attention in Virginia, while a second fatal shooting involving ICE agents was reported Monday in Biddeford, Maine.
Arturo hopes to begin painting as soon as a suitable wall is secured. Anyone interested in offering a spot can reach him through his Instagram HERE.
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