A mural painted in 2024 in front of the Peace/Life Center on 13th Street in Modesto faces an uncertain future as allegations against the late labor leader Cesar Chavez come to light.
The mural, by Merced-based artist Joel Aguilar, depicts a farmworker in a field on one side of the building, with Chavez’s face in the background. Partially silhouetted in the foreground is Chavez’s United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, holding a sign that reads “Organize.”
Chavez, who died in 1993, is accused of raping and molestating two underage girls in the 1970s, as well as raping Huerta while they were both engaged in farmworker unionization efforts…