INDIANAPOLIS — A new mural on the south side of Indianapolis honors the past, present, and future of Filipino culture and heritage.
Displayed boldly in vibrant colors on the south-facing wall of the Philippines Cultural Community Center, located at 4141 East St., the mural is two-fold.
On the left, a depiction of the road from the rice fields of the Philipines to the skyline of downtown Indianapolis, the mural pays homage to the journey of Filipino Hoosiers who immigrated from their homelands. To the right, portraits of six Filipino icons from around the world past and present — Jose Rizal, Lea Salonga, Lapu-Lapu, Tan dang Sora, Manny Pacquiao, and Pia Wurtzbach — are prominently aligned side-by-side, each with their own distinctively colored backdrop.
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Artist Andrea Haydon created the mural in just 30 days, in part, by free hand.
"Honestly, everything was so fast and furious," Haydon said.
Haydon is an Indianapolis-based artist who has been creating murals in central Indiana for the last two years. She says she was surprised when Philip Smith, the founder of the Philippines Cultural Community Center, called her in March and asked if she'd be interested in painting a mural for the Center.
Haydon says she "couldn't pass up on this really unique opportunity."
In parallel to Haydon's start as a muralist two years ago, Smith also started the Philippines Cultural Community Center in 2020. It's a relatively new non-profit organization that has quickly grown.
Smith told WRTV in June that he founded the Center to bring more awareness to both Filipino Americans and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in Indianapolis. Through the Center, Smith hopes to be a central hub of community and promotion for Filipino and AAPI culture, heritage, business, and art.
"We all want to feel a belongingness. That's our human nature — whether it be from a different country, culture, background — we all want to feel like we belong," Smith said. "This community center enhances that by welcoming everyone to learn about the Philippines and to experience what the Philippines is like since it's 8,000 miles away."
Smith says a big part of raising awareness about the Filipino community is the education aspect.
Going into the assignment, Haydon admits, "This is a culture I don't know," she said. Coming out of it, however, Haydon says she's learned so much. "(It's) just awesome to like, learn about a whole new culture," Haydon said.
Haydon said that Smith played a vital role in the concept and design of the Philippines Cultural Community Center mural.
From the rice fields, people dancing, and kids playing to the gigantic portraits, Haydon says painting the mural was not only a challenge and educational, but it made her feel like she was a part of something important to the growth of a community in Indianapolis.
"I'm actually the most excited about helping them create this, you know, 'hey, this is us. This is who we are," Haydon said.
"That's what I really want (people) to take away from it is just like, making people realize that there's a space here and that everybody's welcome," Haydon said.
The Philippines Cultural Community Center hosts several events and plans to create programming for the local Filipino and AAPI communities. You can learn more about the Center on their website at phcenter.org or their Instagram. You can learn more about Haydon at studiohaydon.com.
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WRTV Digital Reporter Shakkira Harris can be reached at shakkira.harris@wrtv.com. You can follow her on Twitter, @shakkirasays.
