The artist responsible for the art installations and murals that have become a part of San Antonio’s identity has passed away. Jesse Trevino, well known for the landmark “La Veladora of Our Lady of Guadalupe” mosaic on the Westside at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, died on Monday morning at the age of 76.
Jesse Treviño Obituary
Jesus “Jesse” Trevino was born on December 24, 1946, in Monterrey, Mexico, to Juan Trevino and Dolores Campos. He was their ninth child. In the quest for work, his father relocated from Sabinas Hidalgo to San Antonio in 1906. Dolores was born in New Braunfels in 1915 and raised there.
They met when Juan went to New Braunfels to visit his brothers who resided there. The couple married there, and they lived there until racial strife and financial hardships drove the family to move to Monterrey, Mexico.
Juan worked as a truck driver for building materials until economic conditions compelled the family to travel once more, this time to San Antonio, Texas, where they resided in the West Side region. This neighborhood was home to a large number of Mexican Americans.
Trevino traveled to the Witte Museum when he was six years old and got his first art award there. He attended Fox Tech High School, where a teacher named Katherine Alsup helped him gain admission to the Art Students League in New York City in 1965.
In order to serve in Vietnam, Trevino enlisted in the military in 1966. He could have returned to Mexico as a citizen and avoided serving in the military, but he chose not to do so because Trevino would carry on the military tradition started by several of his brothers.
In the B Co., 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, he served after receiving his training at Fort Riley. He was assigned to military duty in Vietnam in December 1966.