“Vital Signs” Celebrates San Bernardino’s Culture, History

The San Bernardino Paul Villaseñor Branch library hosted Vital Signs, a collaborative project by Professors Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern, who teach at Cal State University, San Bernardino. The book includes poetry by Juan Delgado and photography by Thomas McGovern, who started photographing murals in San Bernardino in 2006 and shot these murals in his spare time through 2012. Vital Signs was also available at the library for signing. “All the right people came together and we were very excited about it,” said McGovern regarding the initial start of the publishing process and collaboration. McGovern believes that the San Bernardino area is a beautiful, interesting, and wonderful place. “I noticed that there was a lot of pride in these murals. There is culture there.” Some of the murals McGovern had photographed were no longer there. “We want to see improvements [to the city], but on the other hand there is some loss that happens and we don’t want to forget these things. Let’s be careful about what we tear down. Let’s embrace the multicultural place and not make it like every other town; there is history here.” Juan Delgado felt that there is a lack of identity in a lot of uniform cities. Delgado’s poem “Wooden Stilts” is a nostalgic piece about childhood. Also featured is the poem “El Tigre Market,” written alongside McGovern’s photo of a mural over a closed and empty grocery store where an empty cart had been left tilted on the sidewalk. “We want to bring art to places that aren’t the normal temples for art,” said Delgado. Also in attendance was Phil Yeh, who has painted 1,800 murals all around the world and is currently painting a mural on E and 14th streets, at the site of the first McDonald’s. “When the community has murals, the community becomes alive,” said Yeh. Yeh has also painted a mural at the Mt. Vernon School, where he invited the kids to join and paint with him. “People want to express their artistic nature,” shared Yeh. He hopes more locals will pay attention to the murals. “We need to fight the negative stereotypes. There is a good energy here,” said Yeh of the San Bernardino area. There will be an additional opportunity to meet Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern at the Feldheym Library on Nov. 16.