On Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers debuted a community mural depicting a beloved paletero pushing his cart filled with sweet frozen treats.
The expansive mural, painted by artist Michael Cerda, spans approximately 100 feet along the side of Heavy Hitters Athletic Facility (415 S. Third Street) a sporting facility dedicated to youth baseball.
Cerda, a Milwaukee native, is the owner of Cerda Design Co. His artwork is seen throughout the city in branding and creative design. This is his first mural and was inspired by his reverence for the paletero and their pride in their work and throughout the community.
Paletero culture has its roots in Mexico, where it is a symbol of pride and hard work. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million paleteros operate in the United States and are most visible pushing their carts adorned with bells. During Cerda’s work on the mural, concerns about the safety of the paleteros in Milwaukee arose after a video posted to social media showed a street vendor being harassed and having his cart toppled during a Cinco De Mayo celebration, sparking outrage.
In light of the incident, Cerda chose to speed up his work and finish the mural to honor and acknowledge the paleteros in Milwaukee.
Paleteria Yayo, a Milwaukee company that specializes in traditional Mexican ice cream, handed out paletas, the frozen treat, as finishing touches were made to mural.
The mural is one of several the Brewers are installing throughout the city in collaboration with several artists.
