Four years before one of the historic Westside’s main streets was renamed to honor Cesar Chavez, the prolific Latino civil rights activist, a 17-year-old artist named Juan Moya walked to an old stone staircase at the southern edge of Gage Park, in the heart of the neighborhood where he grew up.
He and a small group of friends had pooled their money to buy paint and supplies to create a mural on the corner of 23rd and Jarboe on some of the crumbling stone walls at the bottom of the staircase, which had been covered by graffiti put up by various gangs.
“We had been in the neighborhood for awhile, kind of knew everybody,” said Moya. “Neighbors were complaining about it so we decided to get together, buy our own paint and do a mural over it. I just did it to try and beautify the neighborhood a bit.”
Since first completing the mural in 1990, Moya has considered it his baby, coming back several times to make changes and maintain it. He completely redid it in the mid-'90s to more heavily feature the iconic Latino activist for whom the street is named.
Moya has done all of this work without compensation. Last fall, the Westside community got a chance to change that.
“We received an email about a Neighborhood Empowerment Grant,” said Elizabeth Mounteer, board member with the Westside Neighborhood Association. “After a lot of conversations, we ended up applying for the grant for the Gage Park mural specifically.”
Mounteer said the grant required community input by way of a recommendation for the person they believe should receive the funds.
In June of 2024, the association hosted a neighborhood meeting to vote on finalists to lead the project. Mounteer said that it quickly became clear who the community wanted to receive the award.
“We had a group of artists that said, ‘Hey, we recognize the significance of this. We really support Juan Moya. We’re gonna bow out,’” said Mounteer. “That was really cool to see. Just that respect there, artist to artist.”
Moya overwhelmingly won the vote, and in September began working to completely redo the murals on the weathered walls and stairs for the third time. It was the first time he’d be paid for his work.
Thanks to the grant he was able to step away from his regular job as an artist at Exile Tattoo in Westport to fully focus on completing the project.
“I felt so appreciated,” said Moya. “I haven’t done the work to actually calculate the hours but I worked on it (this time) for 43 days, 7 days a week. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get it done if it weren't for Mother Nature and Old Man Winter staying at bay.”
Moya finished the mural on Oct. 31, just two days before it was set to be unveiled to the community at a ribbon cutting ceremony that Saturday. More than 120 people showed up.
Prominent Latino community members and elected officials joined Moya in cutting the ribbon, many of them speaking of how the new artwork reflected a renaissance in their community.
“(We are seeing it) with the resources we are putting back into this community and the excitement that’s being reciprocated,” said Councilmember Crispin Rea. “This beautiful mural is an example of that renaissance. We’ve reclaimed one of our spaces and made it beautiful again.”
Rea also said he hopes that Moya’s work can elevate the mural from an icon in Kansas City’s Latino community to something the city as a whole recognizes with pride.
“Now that it’s been redone, I want it to be an icon for all of Kansas City,” said Rea. “We do a good job of getting our icons on the Monday night football or when we’re showcasing the city. This needs to be on the list with Union Station, the Plaza and all the other places we showcase.”
Artist Moya said he shares Rea’s hopes for the mural, but that his main goal was a bit simpler. He just hopes the mural makes his community feel proud of its heritage.
“Life is about inspiration for me,” said Moya. “I feel like if it inspires someone to smile for the day or for someone to feel pride in being who they are or their culture… anything like that is a win in my opinion.”
