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A once-blank wall at the northeast corner of California St. and Otero Ave. has bloomed into a vibrant celebration of local culture and landscape, thanks to 28-year-old muralist Deru You and the city’s Diamond in the Desert Beautification Committee.
Based on an original painting by San Antonio, NM, artist Skeeter Leard, the “Farm Mural” depicts a tranquil Rio Grande Valley scene, complete with a vintage truck and horse trailer in the foreground, a chile field and mountains rising in the distance.
You, whose background is in acrylic portraits and realism paintings, got involved with the Beautification Committee after meeting committee member John Morrison while selling art at the farmers market.
After being commissioned by the committee, You started the mural at the Socorro Public Pool in May 2024 and completed it six weeks later. Prior to that they had only done three large scale projects at friends’ houses.
“At first it was super intimidating and overwhelming,” You said. “But after doing the swimming pool mural, that gave me a lot of confidence to be able to deal with the scale… it’s all the exact same techniques and processes (as a small painting) for the most part, just with bigger brushes and using rollers for the background.”
You started the “Farm Mural” on July 1, and their process is meticulous. It starts with printing a photo of the original art and gridding it out. Using a chalk line — a tool that snaps powdered lines onto surfaces — You replicates the grid on the wall, sketches the design with spray paint, then begins layering on acrylic paint.
“You go from having just a blank wall that no one would really notice to something beautiful that captures people’s attention,” You said. “It gives people a reason to say, ‘Socorro is a cool town. I’m proud to live here.’”
The Beautification Committee is a nonprofit, as well as city funded, and has been instrumental in fostering these types of projects around town since it was founded in 2017. In addition to murals around town, the committee has also spruced up the plaza and is responsible for doing the Christmas lights along California Street.
Committee Chairwoman Chelsea Jones said residents can donate to the committee on their city utility bills, and that they are seeking new members that can carry their mission forward. Additionally, they are looking for a building owner willing to donate a wall for them to put up their next mural project, a New Mexico-version of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting.
For more information on getting involved with the Beautification Committee as a member, artist, or building-owner, contact Jones at the city library. To commission Deru You or see more of their work, visit their Instagram at @kaleidoscopick_art or deruyou222@gmail.com.
