Port funding to Barrio Station has enabled the Logan Heights community to celebrate its colorful heritage with a new ceramic tile mural that was dedicated at Cesar Chavez Park in June.

Members of Barrio Station, Logan Heights Historical Society, Cesar E. Chavez Barrio Logan Committee, Padres Unidos del Barrio and the Latino Youth Soccer League conceived the project to commemorate the heritage of a Mexican-American community that lived and toiled in harmony with San Diego's working waterfront and canneries.

Vintage photographs collected from members of the community capture the essence of life there during the 1930s, '40s and '50s. These images have been screen-printed on large ceramic tiles and assembled into twelve 4 x 6-foot mural panels. The panels are mounted on the north wall of the Cesar Chavez Park.

Barrio Station employed a Request for Proposal (RFP) process in seeking qualified artists for the project. A jury of representatives from each community group, including the Port's Public Art Committee, selected Dale Marsh/Tile Artisans, Inc. to perform the work.

Barrio Station obtained additional sponsorship and funding for the tile mural project from the County of San Diego, Continental Maritime, Chuey's Restaurant and the MAAC Project.

The Barrio Station tile murals and the Children's Museum art project reported in the following story are excellent examples of the opportunities offered through the Community-initiated Public Art Program.