EASTHAMPTON — Growing up during the violent and corrupt patriarchal regime known as “Trujillato” in the Dominican Republic, the late Elena María Candelario Cáceres was forced to flee to the United States at 22 years old with just $40 to her name.

During her 53 years working in the U.S., Candelario Cáceres ended up earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting and becoming a self-employed tax preparer, where she touched the lives of hundreds of Latino immigrants by helping them navigate the tax, school and immigration systems and the housing market.

Now, Candelario Cáceres’ legacy is honored in a mural at 102 Cottage St. titled “Reaching for the Stars.” The mural celebrates her pursuit of education to achieve independence as a migrant and woman from the Dominican Republic.

“My mom’s life motto was ‘knowledge is power,’” said Candelario Cáceres’ daughter, Ginetta Candelario, a Smith College professor who commissioned the mural. “She used to say to me that, you know, they can take your country, they can take your family, but they can’t take what you have learned from you. They can’t take what’s in your mind and in your heart.”

The mural depicts a young Candelario Cáceres kneeling on a pile of books and reaching her right hand toward a swirly purple and blue sky full of stars. The bottom half of the mural represents the city of Easthampton, and features landmarks including the Easthampton star at the top of Mount Tom, Parson’s Closet and the Williston Northampton School.

“It’s supposed to be hopeful, anticipatory, that minute before you reach your potential,” said Melissa Stratton-Pandina, the artist and longtime Easthampton resident who designed and painted the mural with the help of artist Gabriela Sepulveda.

Funding in the amount of $6,000 came from a Cultural Council grant, along with private funding from Candelario.

The mural itself is the first in Easthampton to be made of polytab mural cloth, a primed fabric that can be painted indoors and then adhered to any wall using an acrylic gel.

Polytab murals are more robust, so “instead of most murals that last seven years, this will last until you get bored of it,” Stratton-Pandina said.

She added that because polytab is a cloth that is stuck to the wall, the process of creating the mural can involve community members without much artistic experience.

In this case, Candelario’s family and friends were invited to a “paint party” this week where together they painted the first layer on 5-by-5-foot panels which were later adhered to the wall by Stratton-Pandina and Sepulveda, ultimately resulting in the 45-by-15-foot mural.

“It’s like a giant color-by-number, and then we use it as an underpainting to get it to a professional level mural,” said Stratton-Pandina.

At the paint party, friends and family, including Candelario’s two children who flew out for the occasion, painted the starry sky, and Candelario was able to paint her mother’s fingernails.

“My mom, almost to her dying day, was very particular about manicures and she loved hot pink. So Melissa did me the favor of saving me my mom’s hands, and I painted her nails for her hot pink,” said Candelario, adding that her mother’s graduation ring is also featured on her finger. “I graduated eighth grade and she graduated college the same year, and we took our graduation photos together… and that’s also really meaningful to me.”

Across the entire mural, symbols of education, knowledge and power are represented.

Written on one of the books is Candelario Cáceres’ life motto “saber es poder,” or “knowledge is power,” which is a phrase that continues to guide her daughter’s life.

“I’m a scholar. I’m a researcher. And I have devoted my life to researching Dominican history and culture,” said Candelario.

Other books in the stack illustrated on the mural contain the names of Candelario’s great aunts and great grandmother: Evangelina Cáceres Holguín, Ana Cáceres Holguín, Maria Cáceres Holguín, Carmela Cáceres Holguín and Carolina Holguín.

“We come from a long line of Dominican women who were, each in their own way, committed to knowledge and learning and to women’s independence and to their future generations,” said Candelario.

The mural also honors other Dominican women with three butterflies representing the Mirabal sisters, who fought against the same dictatorship that caused Candelario Cáceres’ exile, as written in the novel “In the Time of the Butterflies.”

“They were called the butterflies because they helped to transform society,” said Candelario. “All of them were highly educated women who were groundbreaking each in their own way, and they’re very much a part of Dominicans’ history and culture.”

Candelario said that the depiction of Easthampton on the bottom half of the mural is meant to honor the city as well as recognize the contributions her mother made to the city.

During the final years of her life, as her health declined, Candelario Cáceres moved to a building in Easthampton so that Candelario could make sure she was taken care of.

Candelario said that since purchasing the building, she and her husband devoted their time to renovating it as part of the “Cottage Street cultural district revitalization… it looks very different today than it did three years ago,” she said.

Now, the first floor is a beauty shop operated by a young LGBTQ business owner; next door, a Latina-owned business selling sneakers and sportswear will soon open; and next to that is a home goods store owned by women entrepreneurs.

“For me, in addition to honoring my mom, it’s also a way of visualizing that people like my mom, not only have they earned the right to be in this country, but they have contributed to its well-being and should be respected and honored for that in every way.”

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@ gazettenet.com or on Twitter @MaddieFabian.]]>