Mural Man: Victor Cepeda Beautifies Sion Farm Entrance, Uplifts Territory

ST. CROIX — Praises are being heaped upon a young Crucian named Victor Cepeda from near and far. All over the internet, residents and diasporas alike have been amazed and uplifted by the mural he painted on the wall of the Estate Sion Farm entrance. Even the Government of the Virgin Islands has taken notice, sharing an image of Cepeda’s painting on its official Facebook page.

The young man started the project over the weekend out of goodwill after being asked by Free Will Baptist Church pastor Gene Wooton, to help the church beautify Sion Farm with a mural. Cepeda told VI Consortium that he left Puerto Rico, where he’s currently attending college, to do the job. And the good Samaritan move, it seems, has changed the young man’s life forever.

“My goal was to get St. Croix to be impacted by what they see,” Cepeda told The Consortium this afternoon, echoing what he said last Saturday.

“This is my island, and St. Croix has so much potential right now and they do not even see it,” he said. “And I want to show them what their island looks like. I want to show them a reborn, animated version of St. Croix, representing the entire island — I want to make it look nice and tropical and very inviting.”

The native son said since the exposure, various individuals and businesses have offered him jobs and people are asking for business cards. VI Consortium asked Cepeda if he would take an offer from the Kenneth Mapp administration to go around the three islands beautify them with murals. He said yes.

The comments section of The Consortium’s Facebook page has been flooded with laud.

“This government can definitely offer this young man a job creating beautiful murals in front of some local communities,” said Melinda V. Bryan, receiving 25 likes for her comment at the time of this article’s publishing.

“It was minutes to 8:00 p.m. when I passed by. He was still there with his family and/or friends helping out. Proud of this guy!!! Feeling very thankful for people like him. So community-minded and driven, Vida Petersen added, receiving 8 likes for her comment.

“I just hope that it really does impact people and get them to start a movement,” Cepeda went on. “I hope that it makes them want to do something good.”

Cepeda said he was given the gift of artistry from God. He also revealed that since age 3, he knew he loved drawing and painting.

“My family never told me, ‘no, you can’t do it,’ they always kept me on the right path and have always supported me until the end,” the young artist said of his family. Cepeda also made known that he’s created art with some local artists, at church, and with well-known local painter Lucien Downes.

Betsaida Torres-Santos, Cepeda’s mother, called him her “number one blessing,” and said she could not ask for a better son. Torres-Santos  said she has paintings of her son back when he was three years old, and because of Cepeda’s love for the art, her home has been decorated over the years with  many beautiful drawings.

In relation to encouraging her son to pursue his dreams, Torres-Santos said she has been her boy’s main cheerleader from the onset.

“I’ve always said if your child has a dream, don’t force them to do something that they don’t want, because you never know what impact it would make on the world,” she said.

If not the world, Cepeda, it seems, has impacted the entire territory greatly.