Restored mural unveiled at Santa Rosa’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park

A Santa Rosa mural depicting national and local civil rights and community leaders has been restored to its former glory after it was defaced by rival gangs.

Now free of the dueling red and black gang tags that marred it earlier this year, the large mural was unveiled Saturday afternoon at the annual South Park Summer Day & Night Festival in Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

Vince Harper, assistant director of community engagement for Community Action Partnership, a nonprofit that runs the Head Start program, recalled the shock and dismay he first felt upon seeking the extent of the damage to the mural, and initially not knowing what he would do.

“It was a tragic day,” Harper said.

He later vowed, not knowing how he would pull it off, to get the mural repaired before the annual festival.

Securing major donations from the John Jordan Foundation, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria - whose chairman Greg Sarris grew up in the neighborhood west of the fairgrounds and is featured on the mural - and the Santa Rosa City Schools, Harper was able to raise $8,300 to fund the repairs.

The restored mural, though largely blocked by an event stage, now clearly shows the faces of national civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez, as well as local figures such as the late Jesse Love, a Navy cook who survived the Pearl Harbor attack, local NAACP president Ann Gray Byrd, and longtime community activist Alicia Sanchez.

The work was removed from the wall and taken to Artstart’s studio on Bennett Valley Road, where two of the original artists, Laura Hoffman and Michael Coy, worked on the restoration, said Artstart creative director Mario Uribe.

Artstart apprentices Veronica Olmos and Opal LeFey also assisted, Uribe said.

The huge spray painted tags extended from one end of the mural to the other and overlapped one another, requiring large portions of the mural to be completely repainted, he said.

The mural will soon get a fresh coat of sealant that makes it easier to remove graffiti, Uribe said.

While murals are now common downtown, Harper said having such art work throughout the city is important, as well.

“I think this is a treasure for all of Santa Rosa,” he said.