As the undisputed Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla invigorated the genre by blending its traditional sound with influences from cumbia, rap, and R&B, earning her a Grammy in 1993. Just two years later, at the age of 23, her death rattled fans across the state. Quintanilla’s impact can still be felt in today’s pop culture and murals found in Texas neighborhoods are a testament to that.
During the Chicano Mural Movement of the 1960s, murals became a tool for placemaking and political expression in Mexican American barrios across the Southwest. Artists helped fuel the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, fighting injustices and creating more opportunities for Chicanos and Tejanos. Today, memorial murals continue the tradition of placemaking, creating localized spaces for remembering people significant to a community.
Representations of Selena across the state draw on this artistic legacy. Artists that create murals of Selena often use techniques associated with street art and graffiti. Christopher Montoya’s photorealistic mural of Selena on South Flores Street in San Antonio, for example, was created in 2012 using only spray paint. Federico Archuleta’s COVID-era mural of a mask-wearing Selena at Taqueria Chapala on East Cesar Chavez in Austin, was created using a custom stencil.
Nathian Rodriguez, an associate professor at San Diego State University who teaches a class on Selena, says that the “murals serve as a form of public memory,” specifically for local communities. He says the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi and Hollywood adaptations of her life are curated displays of the Tejano star. “For people in the cities of Texas specifically, [Selena] means a lot more than just this global icon that she was,” Rodriguez says. “She was a woman of the people.”
Today, it’s more possible than ever to rediscover these murals, thanks to a new Instagram project and map documenting murals of Selena. Yet, murals can disappear due to years of weathering, or be removed when buildings are demolished or ownership changes hands. Accordingly, @selenaqmurals documents whether or not each mural is still available to would-be viewers. The page and map are work-in-progress digital archives of creativity honoring Selena, with an open call for submissions. As images are crowdsourced, the fan community builds connections over a shared enthusiasm for both Selena and public art.
Here are a few murals fans can find across the state.
AUSTIN
Flat Track Coffee
1619 E. Cesar Chavez St.
CORPUS CHRISTI
3515 Ayers St.
SAN ANTONIO
Botanico Los Misterios
4913 S. Flores St.
The Paint Yard
500 Carolina St., San Antonio
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
Across the AutoNation Chevrolet
7769 Boulevard 26
HOUSTON
908 Live Oak Street
