La Cigarra
- Title
- La Cigarra
- Creator
- Aaron Johnson-Ortiz
Aaron Johnson-Ortiz is originally from Minnesota, although he grew up in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. He is a Mexican-American/Chicanx artist based locally in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work focuses on labor rights, immigration rights, and the transnational Latino experience. Aaron’s day job is the Director of Arts & Cultural Engagement at CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio), where he manages many things, including a Latino art gallery, a folk arts program, muralism apprenticeships, and community workshops. Johnson-Ortiz’s “Workers United in Struggle” mural won 2018 “Best Mural” in the Twin Cities. - Date
- Date of Creation: 2021
Date of Documentation: March 18, 2025 - Description
- La Cigarra is composed of many different symbolic references including hands holding a cicada, a sun and moon, flowers and other foliage, and ribbons branching out on both sides of the hands. The hands are front and center on the mural, standing out as the focal point. The flowers and foliage fill in the background but still give meaning to the mural, and the sun and moon are at the top of the mural expressing that time is passing. Together they bring a great story during a global epidemic. Lots of bright colors are used in this mural like reds, yellows, and blues. These colors seem to brighten up the mural and uplift the mood. The warm colors help represent coming out of a dark time, and the sunlight makes the colors “pop” even more. Similar lines are used throughout the mural. They are mostly thin and neat lines that have curves that form their object. They do not interfere with the objects and make them distorted, so we know what the pieces are. The lines are like this to not distract or take away any aspect of the mural and not draw attention away from the meaning and colors. The short lines that are brush strokes in the hands, moon, and sun enhance the texture of the mural. Short brush strokes are used when painting the hands, moon, and sun, giving the mural a sense of texture within the mural. This causes those pieces to pop out to the eyes and become the focal point of the mural. These short strokes also help give the mural a sense of depth, giving a feeling of a true foreground and background. The artist uses the use of foreground to express what he feels is most important, again which is the hands/cicada and the moon and sun. The foliage and flowers are more in the background to not be the focal point, but still to use up space and bring meaning to the mural. Johnson-Ortiz does a great job of using the foreground to express what is most important to him, while still filling up blank spaces in the background with the foliage.
- Subject
- The main goal of this mural is to uplift and bring together the community after COVID, which was hard on all of us with isolation and uncertainty. The artist, Aaron Johnson-Ortiz expresses this with all of the intertwined pieces of the mural put together. The flowers and leaves represent spring and hope. It’s like coming out of a tough time and being hopeful. Spring is after winter which most feel is daunting, or a down season and spring is the hope and turnaround. The hands represent being open to all and reaching out to others. The cicadas are similar to the hands. Cicadas only show themselves and come out of hiding in springs and summers every so often. Very similar to the post-COVID world, reacclimatizing ourselves with our communities and returning to normal. Then there is the moon and sun at the top. This represents the passage of time and is put at the opposite ends of the building. Meaning the mural represents us as time passes. The uplifting, and bright colors fit with the overall theme, of resurgence and hope. Aaron Johnson-Ortiz does a great job exploring his themes and ideas in this mural and is a great reminder of how we overcame the lockdowns of COVID.
- Rights
- Artist: Aaron Johnson-Ortiz
Researcher: Ryan McCorkle - Source
- “Aaron Johnson-Ortiz.” Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, www.chromazone.net/aaron-johnson-ortiz. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Campbell, Bruce, and Aaron Johnson-Ortiz. “Llas Spring 2023 Series: What Is Muralism? Labor, Social Justice, and Cultural Identity through Visual Storytelling.” CSB and SJU Digital Commons, digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/llas_lectures/36/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Stinson, Laurel. “Aaron Johnson-Ortiz.” Anderson Center at Tower View, 21 Mar. 2025, www.andersoncenter.org/aaron-johnson-ortiz/.
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Citation
Aaron Johnson-Ortiz
Aaron Johnson-Ortiz is originally from Minnesota, although he grew up in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. He is a Mexican-American/Chicanx artist based locally in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work focuses on labor rights, immigration rights, and the transnational Latino experience. Aaron’s day job is the Director of Arts & Cultural Engagement at CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio), where he manages many things, including a Latino art gallery, a folk arts program, muralism apprenticeships, and community workshops. Johnson-Ortiz’s “Workers United in Struggle” mural won 2018 “Best Mural” in the Twin Cities., “La Cigarra,” Museum in the streets: Murals in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, accessed January 20, 2026, https://mspmurals.omeka.net/items/show/77.