Light and Art: An exploration of Guadalupe with Cal Duran

Cal Duran remembers the first time he saw the Virgin of Guadalupe in a church in North Denver as a child.  He was captured by her motherly spirit and the glowing light surrounding her. When he was sixteen, he painted a mural of Guadalupe on his bedroom wall.  “On my journey of making art, she has always been present,” he says, gesturing to the plethora of Guadalupe pieces in his Denver art studio.  

In 2017, Cal was invited to paint a large mural of La Virgen in Westwood, and the piece has become a staple in the neighborhood.  She glitters in the sunlight, a visual representation of the light and energy she carries with her. Cal had never done a mural of this size before, but he felt Guadalupe calling to him as a protector of the Westwood neighborhood because of her universality and the way she resonates with so many.  

You don’t have to be religious to connect to Guadalupe.  Cal connects to the energy and power she carries, and her presence as an earth mother.  We all have a light inside of us, he states, and she is the gateway to that. She is surrounded by stars and sitting on the moon in an ethereal glow.  He hopes that those who see his art are captured by her magical feel and her universal elements. 

For Cal, art has been a way to discover his own cultural identity, teach others, and to listen to the call of his ancestors.  Those who came before him guide him in his practice, which includes clay, painting, paper mache, and a variety of mixed media.

“Art has the ability to take you to a different realm and support you in the healing process,” Cal shares as he adds clay to a life-size Guadalupe sculpture he is creating.  This particular piece is a mix of clay and paper mache and will be used for an altar and processional at Re:Vision’s upcoming art gallery, Symbols and Miracles of The Lady of the Stars: A Tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  He hopes that visitors will look this sculpture in the eye and feel her light and draw.

Visit the show and gallery November 29th through January 3rd to see Cal Duran’s work, including the life size sculpture, paintings, prints, ceramics, and more!

Cal Duran works on a sculpture of Guadalupe for Re:Vision’s upcoming show

EZ Heat Solar Furnaces

An energy kit Revision provided for low-income families.

Driving through the Westwood neighborhood, you’ll notice something you see in many lower-income neighborhoods – evidence of poor housing stock, like cheap single pane windows, inadequate siding, and frequently, additions that aren’t up to code.  For many families in this neighborhood, the winter months are a dreaded battle to remain warm.  Poor insulation and weatherization mean their houses struggle to retain heat. The cost of keeping the house livable can reach $200 or more, and many families simply cannot afford this.

In 2011, Revision won a grant from the Denver Energy Challenge to help low-income families reduce the energy usage to heat and cool their homes. Tapping into it’s extensive community-network in Westwood and southwest Denver, Revision conducted over 200 home energy audits, providing those families with an energy efficiency kit and resources on how to weatherize and insulate their homes. However, after 18 months, it was obvious that the program was not meeting the needs of low-income residents. Energy audits simply gave them a list of things to fix on their house that were too expensive, and the energy-saving kits didn’t make a big enough impact – it was like bailing out a leaky boat with your hands.

An early prototype of the solar furnace. This iteration cost approximately $80 and has 144 cans.

Enter a unique collaboration between Revision and Metro State University of Denver’s Aaron Brown, an assistant Professor of mechanical engineering. Aaron’s passion for engineering and appropriate technology in impoverished communities led him take on the issue of heating houses in Westwood.  Could he come up with a solution that would help heat a home and be affordable? The result was a simple prototype: a soda-can solar furnace that costs less than $40 to build, and utilizes reclaimed resources.  Dubbed “EZ Heat” by residents, these solar furnaces take air from inside the house, funnel it through a passive-solar configuration of soda pop cans painted black, and pump it back in the house.  The solar gain increases the air temperature over 100 degrees, all while only using a tiny computer fan to move the air, costing less than 2 cents per day to run. The furnaces are expected to save an average of $30 per month during the winter!

Thanks to Aaron’s vision, the dedication of his students, and the work of Revision promotoras to sell the idea to the community, four low-income families have prototype furnaces installed on their homes!

Over the next several months, the furnaces will be monitored and each family’s energy bills will be examined to calculate savings. Additionally, Aaron will train Revision’s promotoras on how to build the furnaces with the goal of creating a small community-based business employing residents to build them to sell for the neighborhood.  

Interested in buying a furnace? Email us to put your name on the waiting list. Want to help make this and other community efforts a reality? Donate to Revision and know your dollars are heating up change in the lives of low-income families and communities.