The Magnificent Murals of La Casa

Although La Casa won their first case in 2011 by opting out of the feasibility plan made by the University to remain an independent house on campus, they were defeated that the University still had not made an effort in saving the murals of their home. The murals at La Casa are extremely rich with history and struggle represented by the latina and latino students here at UIUC. With that, the students and even professors on our campus were motivated to have them relocated to be restored. Efforts and petitions to save the murals date back to almost sixteen years ago and finally were answered in the year of 2016.

The University issued the removal of the murals to be made in an effort to save the historic campus artowrk. There were several stages of the removal of the murals which included, photographing the murals in order to create a digitical arhive; removing and packaging them for travel; transporting them to a conservator, who will separate the paintings and frame them for either display or storage. The costs of removal and conservation was estimated to be around $300,00. The office of the Chancellor and the Offoce of the Provost each provided one-third of the funding. Additionally, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs split the remainder of the cost.

During this time, Alicia P. Rodriguex, the academic adviser and administrative coordinator for the department of Latina/Latino studies, spoke on behalf of the murals. She stated:

"The murals represent the legacy of Latino students on campus and their role in and importance to the student population here. We want to do all we can to preserve the history of this institution," she said. "The beauty of the murals and the activist spirit that created them should inspire all of us."

Saddened and upset to see the murals go, the students knew that it was for the best and began to respect the decision of the University. Today, the murals are held at the Panama Conservation located in Chicago.