When Cristina Sosa Noriega heard that 19 children and two teachers had been murdered in Uvalde, Texas, her mind went to the same place as every other parent’s 鈥� her own children. The kids were fourth-graders. She had a fourth-grader who had gone off to school that morning chattering happily.
As each new detail of the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary spooled out, Sosa Noriega鈥檚 heart lurched. In particular, she watched for news of one of the girls killed, Amerie Jo Garza, whose story became more and more similar to her own daughter鈥檚. Amerie was exactly four days younger, a Girl Scout and an aspiring artist.
鈥淚 felt so connected to her,鈥� says Sosa Noriega. 鈥淎 little girl who, her mom said, always had clay on her hands, was always painting.鈥�
Sosa Noriega lives in San Antonio but spends a lot of time at a house she owns in west Texas. To get there, she drives through Uvalde. In the days and weeks after the shooting, her family drove through the town multiple times, sometimes stopping at the array of flowers and other tributes outside the school.
On one trip, she pointed out the Wendy鈥檚 where the shooter had worked, and then the store where he bought the gun. 鈥淢y 10-year-old, on her own, said, 鈥榃ait, wait 鈥� He could buy that? And he can鈥檛 buy a beer!’ 鈥� Sosa Noriega says. 鈥淪he could not understand. And I鈥檓 like, ‘I know.’ 鈥�
Sosa Noriega is an acclaimed portrait artist and muralist, known for mixing Mexican iconography with present-day images. Commissioned to design one of four murals marking the San Antonio Missions鈥� designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, she painted giant pecans, a nod to a historic pecan-shellers鈥� strike her grandmother participated in1938. For a set of tableware to be sold in Texas鈥檚 HEB grocery stores, she re-created a number of the cards in the Mexican 濒辞迟别谤铆补 game using modern characters.聽聽聽聽
Immediately after the shooting, she knew she wanted to paint Amerie. Unable to stop thinking about the girl, Sosa Noriega tried to contact her mother.
Sosa Noriega heard that the father of several Robb Elementary pupils, an artist named Abel Ortiz-Acosta, was organizing the , which was to feature a mural for each of the children and teachers lost. She reached out to Ortiz-Acosta, only to learn that the project had heard from more artists than it could possibly use. She filled out a form describing her vision anyhow.
The next thing she knew, she was holding a piece of paper on which Amerie鈥檚 mother, Kimberly Garza, had described the girl鈥檚 favorite things. She was given a painting partner, a University of Texas at San Antonio art student by the name of Alina De Leon, who grew up across the street from Amerie鈥檚 family.
And a blank wall.
Garza had written that she would like Amerie鈥檚 mural to include an artist鈥檚 palette, which Sosa Noriega took as the painting鈥檚 focal point.
鈥淭he wall that I was assigned to has two large windows we couldn鈥檛 paint over. So I was like, 鈥榃ell, this could be the hole in the palette.’ 鈥�
Sosa Noriega had seen photos of a present Amalie had made for Mother鈥檚 Day, a few weeks before. It was a collage made of popsicle sticks emblazoned with love notes. 鈥淵ou console me,鈥� said one. 鈥淚 will always love you,鈥� said another.
鈥淪ome of the other ones had little misspellings, like a typical 10-year-old,鈥� says Sosa Noriega. 鈥淭he punctuation is slightly off. But she had written the most mature words 鈥� 鈥榊ou console me鈥� 鈥� perfectly. And her mom said, 鈥楽he told me what that meant because I didn鈥檛 know.鈥� 鈥�
Copying Amerie鈥檚 handwriting, Sosa Noriega added the words to the palette.
Amerie鈥檚 dad drove by several times while they were painting. He resembled the girl so much, Sosa Noriega knew it was him. Eventually, he stopped and gave the artists buttons with his daughter鈥檚 picture on them.
On the button, Amerie was wearing a lavender dress. The girl disliked dresses but had agreed to wear this one to her aunt鈥檚 birthday party last October because lavender was Amerie鈥檚 favorite color.
To the dress, the painters added a pendant the little girl wore all the time, and a Bronze Cross, which Amerie was awarded posthumously by the Girl Scouts. The honor is given to girls who show extraordinary bravery or who risk their life to save another.
Amerie was dialing 911 when she was shot. She was one of 11 children who called for help during the nearly 90-minute shooting.
Amerie鈥檚 favorite flowers were sunflowers, so Sosa Noriega used them to create a pattern. She painted the gold-on-lavender background in the style of a Mexican oilcloth, to make sure the girl鈥檚 heritage was represented.
Creating the mural was quick and intuitive for Sosa Noriega, but she worried whether it would live up to the family鈥檚 hopes. At one point, one of Amerie鈥檚 relatives stopped and said her mother had come by 鈥� but in the middle of the night, when other people wouldn鈥檛 see her take in the portrait.
The mother loved it, Sosa Noriega was relieved to hear: 鈥淎ll I cared about was the family. Do they look at it and feel love and peace?鈥�
Amerie鈥檚 mom, in fact, loved the mural. She asked Sosa Noriega if a few more details could be added. The muralist invited the family to join her to paint. Garcia herself painted a locket depicting her daughter鈥檚 love of the Korean boy band BTS.
A tattoo of Amerie鈥檚 love note to her mother 鈥� 鈥淵ou console me鈥� 鈥� is visible on Garcia鈥檚 arm.
The other murals in the series also contain details about the lives lost.
Tess Mata, 10, loved Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve so much that she played second base on her softball team. She was saving money to take her family to Disney World. She is painted here by Houston-based muralist Anat Ronan, who has created murals all over the world.
Layla Salazar was a prize-winning runner who doted on her great-great-grandparents, according to her grandfather Vicente Salazar Sr. 鈥淪he was all heart.鈥�
At 10, Makenna Lee Elrod (left) was a gymnast who loved animals and hid notes for loved ones to find later. Her favorite color was purple, which her family asked mourners to wear to her celebration of life.
Uziyah Garcia, 10, was deeply religious. He loved playing on Nintendo Switch and Oculus. He made superhero costumes out of towels and clothes pins.
鈥淚 want people to remember their stories, and that they had these beautiful, promising lives,鈥� Sosa Noriega says.
鈥淚 also want people to be mad about it. And feel motivated to act not only for police accountability for the officers that didn鈥檛 do anything and grossly mishandled the whole thing. But also just how ludicrous it is that a random 18-year-old was going to walk into a store and buy a weapon of war and do that much damage and destroy a whole community in minutes.”
Layout design by 蜜桃影视’s Meghan Gallagher
鈥淲e need to know the truth and justice needs to prevail.鈥�
