Nearly 20 years after it was originally painted, the iconic “Homage” mural in downtown San Jose received some much-needed restoration work this week. And the crew doing the job included original artist Paul Urich, who collaborated with Chris Duncan on the piece in 2005, as well as Anno Domini gallery owners Brian Eder and Cherri Lakey, who were also part of the original project. The mural on the corner of Santa Clara and Fourth streets pays tribute to Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos and their civil rights protest at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
And longtime residents may remember another mural of a crucified Jesus on that same wall before the property was bought and the wall painted over. “Homage” really launched downtown’s modern mural renaissance, and the multitude of large-scale paintings on the city’s walls, bridges and even streets are a beloved and well-publicized part of San Jose’s identity. In recent years, though, the murals colors had faded and the bottom part of the mural had been tagged.
The tags on the lower section were covered up this year by the temporary addition of “San Jo,” a silver and teal Sharks-themed mural by graffiti artist King157, working with the 1Culture Galley. While the new artwork protected “Homage” from more tags, it also obscured the mural’s message of gratitude for Smith and Carlos’ act of resistance, Eder said Wednesday as he worked on the restoration. Now, it looks better than ever and is compleme.