Tapestry of Abundance
📍Bethel Community Church, San Leandro
Bright colors flow throughout the building, each carrying with it a different pattern from an array of cultures and nature. Popping out of the tapestry include food, kitchenware, and more.
Bethel Community Church requested a design that celebrated the multiculturalism of not only their congregation but the communities they serve with their services, such as their weekly food bank and community garden.
They wanted to portray the abundance they have when people of different walks of life come together.
The patterns include tatreez (Palestinian embroidery,) otomi (Oaxaca, Mexico embroidery), patterns found in Chinese porcelain and pairs of wooden spoons and forks which are commonly found in Filipino households as decor. A molcajete filled with fresh foods and a vivid collard green are found atop, nods to cultural dishes served at the church.
You will also find seaside daisies — on the mural as well as growing aside it— and native acorns to honor the Indigenous stewards of Ohlone Territory and their delicacies as well. Monarch butterflies fly atop the weaving and are a part of the tapestry as well; signs of a healthy environment for those migrating here.
