Going all the way back to 2015 today for this mural by El MAC, Augustine Kofie, and Joseph ‘Nuke’ Montalvo. La Abuelita/Má’sání, a portrait of Diné (Navajo) weaver Martha Gorman Schultz, is located on the outside of The American Hotel in Los Angeles.

From El MAC (Miles MacGregor)’s website about the mural-

“The portrait is painted entirely with aerosol and fatcaps, and is based on photos I shot a few years ago of an artist named Martha Gorman Schultz. She is a Navajo blanket weaver from northern Arizona, and part of a respected family of weavers including her granddaughter, Melissa Cody.

I felt this painting of Martha could be an empowering representation of beauty not often depicted in public art or media. Beauty that is feminine, elderly, indigenous, loving and powerful.

The building this mural was painted on was constructed in 1901, and you can imagine how much Los Angeles history it’s seen over the last hundred years or so.

This was an especially collaborative effort- Along with the work of Kofie and Nuke surrounding the figure, SKILL UTI painted the wall to the left, integrating an already existing piece by DASH 2000(Rest In Peace). SWAN provided ground support, along with CHEE, AISE, BLK, OFIER, SELEK, CALVYRUS and some other younger members of UTI crew, which has been painting these walls for the last few decades.”

Sadly, Martha Gorman Schultz passed away in February of last year at the age of 93. For more information on her life and work, check out Hyperallergic’s tribute.