Wanderer, There Is No Road, The Road is Made by Walking

Jose M. Loza

Jose M. Loza’s, Wanderer, There Is No Road, The Road is Made by Walking, was created as part of the Uptown Creative Corridor Challenge in Council District 9, whose aim is to decrease the amount of defacement in the district. Loza’s mural is partly influenced by a poem from Spanish poet Antonio Machado. It reads, “Wanderer, your footsteps are the road and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking. Walking makes the road and turning to look behind you see the path that you will never tread again. Wanderer, there is no road, only foam trails on the sea” (Proverbios y canteras in Campos de Castilla, 1912).

Loza says that “the imagery in the mural ultimately leads to rebirth, represented by the phoenix, but it is also about the road getting there. I did not want to be too literal, allowing it to be open to interpretation. The elemental images can be phases of a person’s journey or flashes of memories intertwined, overlapping, and blending into one another. To me the meaning is in constant flux. I was fortunate enough to find a model from the area which posed for the large female portrait in the mural. The figure is representative of serene clarity through constant change.

The mural was painted over the course of a month. I had many helpful volunteers from the local community and guest artists which left their distinct mark on the mural. The initial idea development was a collaboration between community and the committee at Intercity Fellowship Hall.”