Street Artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada Honours Dr Ydelfonso Decoo with Giant Land Mural in Queens, New York 2020

A 20,000-foot mural in Queens has been painted by Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada. The land painting ‘Somos La Luz/we are the light’, honours Dr Ydelfonso Decoo, a paediatrician and one of the first minority doctors to die during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Decoo graduated from the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara,Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara in 1978 and had 42 years experience. Dr. Decoo worked in New York, NY and specialized in Family Medicine, General Practice and Pediatrics.

Dr Decoo was also part of SOMOS Community Care, a physician-led network of doctors who treat patients from marginalised communities, like those in Queens hardest hit by the coronavirus.

“It’s a gift to the family and to many families to know that we care,” Rodriguez-Gerada

Gerada’s mural honours Dr. Decoo, a Latino doctor from New York who passed from COVID-19⁣ and pays tribute to all the lives lost throughout the pandemic⁣.⁣ The mural especially acknowledges the “forgotten people of COVID-19,” highlighting the disproportionate loss of NYC lives in Hispanic and African American populations⁣.⁣

“The world is experiencing a terrible time. We are suffering through a global pandemic. It has become evident that the virus finds it easier to spread among minorities and our society is set up to make it that way. COVID-19 has made the underlying inequity in our nation more evident now than ever. In New York City the coronavirus is killing Hispanics and African Americans at double the rate that it is killing Whites and Asians. This might be due to the fact that the Hispanic and Black populations represent 75 % of front-line city workers who are at high risk (more than 60% of people who work as cleaners and caretakers are Hispanic, and more than 40% of transit employees are black). I am creating this piece in this part of Queens because of the disproportionate amount of Latinos that have died in the area.” Gerada_art instagram

The mural is being painted on a city-owned parking lot between the Queens Museum and the New York State Pavilion NY 11368.

The founder and curator of the project was Mr Henry Muńoz III, Co-Founder of SOMOS, curator of the installation and Chairman Emeritus of the Smithsonian National Latino Board. Gerada’s management and documentation team were Green Point Innovations . Official sponsors of the project are Dr Ramon Tallaj, SOMOS Community Care and Mr Henry Muñoz. With the support of community partners Make The Road New York, El Museo del Barrio and the Queens Museum.

Memorial ceremony and official opening to the public event to be held the end of the week with date and time to be announced.

Photo/Drone Credit Just_a_Spectator

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