Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Hank Drew The site of the Cesar E. Chavez Monument remains surrounded by chain-linked fences.

Located between the Music Building and the new Associated Students print shop, the Cesar E. Chavez Monument, also known as The Arch of Dignity, Equality and Justice, is near completion.

The Arch's dedication ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 4 at El Paseo de Cesar Chavez after last April's projected date of completion was pushed back to between late June and late August.

SJSU President Jon Whitmore and the Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Community Committee will be at the reception, which will include a Native American blessing at 2:30 p.m. followed by the dedication ceremony at 3:15 p.m.

Artist and UCLA Professor Judith F. Baca designed the monument and its murals.

It is "modeled on a Mayan corbelled arch combined with mission colonial arches. This site pays tribute to Chavez's respective Spanish and indigenous roots while referencing the conquest. The plaza is treated with colors derived from the Pre-Hispanic Codices, while the arch is finished with a pearlescent white to create a sensibility of reflective light within the architecture," according to the Social and Public Art Resource Center's Web site.

"The five murals are made from Venetian glass," Baca said. "The interior mural depicts (Cesar) Chavez peering across a vineyard during his 21-day fast during the grape boycott."

The project's near completion comes as a warm welcome to some students.

"When construction first began, I didn't consider it to be a pain," said Stephanie Hwang, a junior nursing major. "But because it has been around for so long, it has become an annoying obstacle to walk around."

Other students seemed excited to see the monument nearly completed.

"I think that once the finishing touches are made, it will look great," said Jason Lee, a senior business finance major.

El Paseo de Cesar Chavez is getting a face lift with new tiling around the existing fountain and a fresh coat of paint.

The project had been delayed after its initial dedication date due to technical difficulties with glass pieces that make up the logo of the United Farm Workers' Union, an eagle with an approximately 15-feet wingspan, according to a report in an April 15 Spartan Daily article.

"It took engineering and know-how to produce the glass eagle," Baca said.

Since the report, the logo has been placed inside the monument and covered during the remainder of the work.

"The way the light reflects off of the turquoise glass eagle is truly remarkable," Baca said. "The outcome has truly exceeded my vision."

"The construction has gone exactly to plan and the past delay came when the art met the construction," said Tony Valenzuela, associate vice president of Facilities Development and Operations at SJSU.

He added that the five murals are finished and should be installed within the coming week.

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