A mysterious mural painted more than three decades ago on a freight elevator wall at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, will soon be leaving, Democrat & Chronicle reports. The artist, Nicholas Chavez, is a long-time employee of the hospital, working in the linens department for more than 30 years. The freight elevator that houses his mural is currently out-of-service and slated to be destroyed as part of the hospital’s emergency department expansion.
In 1990, Chavez began working part-time at Strong, which is part of the University of Rochester Medical Center. He had immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico five years earlier. A painter since childhood, Chavez drew upon his life for the artwork, covering graffiti on the elevator wall. Though they may look like random symbols on the surface, the various subjects of the mural have deep personal meaning for Chavez. Featured in his creation are a mountain he could see from his window in Mexico, a shooting comet he witnessed as a child and a self-portrait. “It was not like the whole idea for the painting came right away,” recalled Chavez. “I kept my brushes in a special place and painted little by little in my spare time.”
Completed in 1993, the painting’s only audience throughout the years has been hospital workers. Early on, Willie Hayes, Chavez’s late former supervisor, asked him about the elevator art. Concerned, Chavez confessed that he was behind it. “No worries,” said Hayes. “We’re going to keep it. I think it is beautiful.”
Though the hospital’s freight elevator is doomed, Chavez’s creation has a bright future. He was given permission to take the mural before the demolition. Chavez plans to bring the panels to his home in Rochester, where he lives with his wife, Mariela, and their three dogs. He will varnish the pieces and reassemble the painting in his back yard.
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