Mural in Los Altos, West Dallas honors Hispanic roots of neighborhood

Look at a new blue-and-yellow mural in West Dallas and see a snapshot of the neighborhood’s Hispanic, working-class roots.

Called The Ballad of Los Altos, the mural by Dallas-based artist Alec DeJesus is on the side of a Hello! Deluxe Car Wash that recently opened in the Los Altos neighborhood.

It measures 116 feet wide and 21 feet tall and shows a Hispanic family gathered around a work truck, a common sight in Los Altos, DeJesus said. He hoped to “take a romantic snippet of an everyday scene and show the humble greatness of it.”

The truck is the mural’s anchor, he said. “That’s what this family has essentially used to carve out their life.”

“We wanted the mural to be respectful of the origins and traditions of the community,” said Frank Nuchereno, owner of the car wash, “and yet reflect a neighborhood that is in transition and is in growth.”

From left to right the mural depicts a young boy, a middle-age man, an old man and a mother with a baby in her arms. At night, the building’s windows illuminate the figures.

They are meant to represent the many multigenerational families in Los Altos and different life milestones, said DeJesus, who’s turning 35 this year. The baby marks the beginning of new growth.

A lightning bolt on the mural showcases that continuity. “It symbolizes the heartbeat of a community,” DeJesus said. “But it’s also an energy that’s passed down through the composition, through life.”

The mural also has some personal notes: The dog in the truck represents DeJesus’ dog, Hank, a golden shepherd labrador mix who died at the age of 12 earlier this year.

It is the reason why the middle-aged man reaches for the dog, but is unable to touch it, DeJesus said. “That’s a little love letter to my guy Hank.” 

DeJesus incorporated the Hello! Deluxe Car Wash brand into the mural through the business’ colors. It took him two and a half weeks to finish, with 15 gallons of blue paint and six to 10 cans of spray paint per day.

He has painted about 20 murals in North Texas and this work is his largest single-wall mural yet.

“It was more exciting for me to watch the mural go up than it was to build the car wash,” Nuchereno said. The business now has four locations in North Texas, including in Los Altos, and one more coming soon near the Dallas Zoo.

Nuchereno has named the new location Hello! Los Altos.

“I tell everybody, this is really a mural that has a car wash,” he said. “It’s not a car wash that has a mural.”