Alex Rubio has had extensive experience as a community based artist. As a youth, he was compelled to depict large-scale aerosol images on the walls of his unit at the Mirasol Housing Projects. As a result, directors with the Community Cultural Arts Organization recruited him as a youth arts crew leader for their mural program based at the Cassiano Homes Housing Projects. He has spent over seventeen years engaging San Antonio community members in mural painting, an art form known for its accessibility and its contemporary relevance.

As a resident of the Westside, Rubio remembers the “Virgen de San Juan” mural painted on a wall at the San Juan Housing Projects on South Zarzamora Street. This mural became a public art icon for the surrounding community. Alex Rubio, MOSAIC Studio Manager at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, is excited about the chance to bring a community mural project back to his neighborhood. Mr. Rubio will design imagery for three, 4’ft. h. x 3’ft. w. mosaic medallions and one large 5’ft. h. X 9’ft. w. mosaic panel. The medallions are to be installed on the façade of the San Juan Square Apartments Live/Work building on 1938 South Zarzamora. The mosaic panel will be permanently installed above the entrance doors to the Community Center building.

Rubio and a core group of students enrolled in the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center’s Mosaic Program will work on site with San Juan resident youth in the creation and installation of hand made ceramic mosaic tile to be unveiled and dedicated on Friday, July 31, 2009 from 1:00-5:00 pm. Mosaic students will act as crew leaders and mentors for community youth during workshops and demonstrations designed to give future generations of San Juan residents a sense of contribution and ownership to its newest neighborhood icon.