SAN ANTONIO — Sandra Gonzalez did everything to capture Eva Mireles’ essence on her mural. Mireles was one of the two teachers who lost her life at the Robb Elementary School shooting.
It was difficult for Gonzalez at times because she, like Mireles, is a teacher. Gonzalez teaches art at Roosevelt High School on San Antonio’s North East Side.
“It’s very emotional, especially as a teacher just to represent her soul in here, it is emotional,” Gonzalez said.
This isn’t one of those mural stories that claims to bring the community together — Mireles’ mural literally brought folks from out of town and Uvalde together.
“It has been really amazing to see the support from the community. People from Uvalde, they keep coming, stopping, asking if we need anything, they bring waters, they bring food,” Gonzalez said.
Every artist participating in this healing Uvalde mural project has said the same thing — the grieving families have shown their love and support.
Gonzalez even a received a helping hand from Mireles’ husband Ruben Ruiz and their daughter Adalynn Ruiz.
“I was like I hope they use my favorite picture. I mean I got it tattooed that’s my favorite picture,” Adalynn Ruiz said. “When she took it, we even got it framed, it’s in our house. It was a long time ago, she loved it too. It’s her place, she loved hiking.”
Mireles loved the Mexican rock band Mana so her family played her favorite jams through a giant speaker as they painted.
“She loved Mana. She sang really bad, but she loved singing, so that was her thing: hiking and karaoke,” Adalynn Ruiz said.
Mireles loved singing Diamonds by Rihanna. Adalynn said once Mireles had the microphone, you couldn’t get it out of her hands.
This 21-mural project was a collaborative effort from MAS Cultura, a nonprofit in Austin, Collectors of Chicano/Latinx Art and Allies and Art Lab Contemporary Art Space in Uvalde.
Abel Ortiz runs Art Lab Contemporary Art Space in Uvalde and he thought of the idea to put these murals up. Monica Maldanado, founder of MAS Cultura, helped organize this project and got all of the artists together to help Uvalde heal.
“I loved that they allowed us to be apart of it because it’s perfect, the way she is with her arms and with her flags. Her smile really brings out the whole thing,” Adalynn Ruiz said.
In the mural Mireles is holding up two flags — one with the words “always strong” and the other spelling out “CrossFit.”
The little diamonds on the mural were a fitting touch, because like Mireles’ favorite karaoke song, it shined bright like a diamond.
There was a moment where Adalynn Ruiz and her father Ruben Ruiz put the paint brushes down and stood side-by-side to admire the mural.
Everyone noticed the two glancing at the mural while this was happening, Marco Antonio Solís' voice echoed through the speaker.
“No hay nada más difícil que vivir sin ti,” the lyrics reverberated, which translates to “there is nothing harder than to live without you.”
The timing of those lyrics and Adalynn Ruiz staring at the mural with her father left everyone else in tears.
Spectrum News 1 asked Adalynn what else she wanted the world to know about Mireles.
“She’s just...her smile is just perfect. She loved everything she did, she loved her students, she loved her job,” Adalynn Ruiz said. “So I’m really grateful that she was there to protect them and she’s with them now.”