The Dallas Museum of Art’s 153-foot long hallway recently became home to artist Guadalupe Rosales’ immersive mural called “Drifting on a Memory.” The vibrant and bold colors set the scene: cruising the streets in East Los Angeles, feeling the breeze in your hair as you coast in a lowrider.
Rosales creates her masterpieces with photographs, sound, ephemera, and memorabilia to share her “Latinx experiences in the United States,” a press release by the Dallas Museum of Art explained. The lowrider display in the hallway marks her first mural and continues her mission to spread the culture and history of Latinx communities.
Artist, Guadalupe Rosales, working on her mural Drifting on a Memory displayed in the Dallas Museum of Art. | Image by Lisbeth Powers, Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
In the mid-20th century, the lowrider culture left its mark in Los Angeles, where Rosales was born. The vehicles were donned with detailed designs, lavish interiors, and glimmering finishes as they roll along major streets in the city.
Rosales recruited help from local Dallas-Fort Worth artists to create the lowrider scene. Lokey Calderon is a lowrider artist based in Dallas, and he helped create the pinstriping along the wall. Sarah Ayala, a mural artist from Fort Worth, also joined the team to bring Rosales’ vision to life.
Guadalupe Rosales created her mural Drifting on a Memory with the help of Dallas-Fort Worth artists, Lokey Calderón and Sarah Ayala. | Image by Liesbeth Powers, Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
The finished mural is bold with colors of orange, pink, red, and yellow and resembles a classic lowrider paint job. A disco ball hangs from the ceiling, shimmering and throwing spots of shine onto the walls, and, according to Kera News, guests will hear music playing faintly in the background to set the mood.
View of the entrance to Guadalupe Rosales’ “Drifting on a Memory” lowrider mural at the Dallas Museum of Art. | Image by Ward Sakeik
The mural project coordinator, Dr. Vivian Li mentioned, “Lowrider culture is intimately connected to the Latinx culture as a part cruising, parties, and other forms of socializing, also here in Dallas, especially on Jefferson Boulevard.”
According to NBC DFW, the museum’s Eugene McDermott Director, Dr. Agustin Arteaga stated, “The museums have to be inclusive places. We really have to be able to reflect what is our culture and our living culture. We are repositories of time, we’re repositories of treasures, but we have to find ways to connect with people in their own terms.”
Drifting on a Memory will be on display at the Dallas Museum of Art until July 10, 2022, and admission is free.