Carlos Rosales-Silva

Carlos Rosales-Silva (b. 1982, El Paso, Texas) created Alma del rio (2026), a dynamic mural painted onto three interior walls of the museum’s parking structure. Through a rich array of iconography, the work evokes Memphis’s past and present, reflecting the city’s layered histories and the dynamic interplay between nature and culture. The title, Spanish for “soul of the river,” refers to the Mississippi River, rendered in a stylized form across the mural’s three sides. Woven throughout are motifs designed by the artist that speak to Memphis and the broader region, including sassafras leaves, the iconic roofline of Rust Hall in Overton Park, Mississippian ceremonial mounds, and Isaac Hayes’s legendary desk at Stax Records. Together, these elements create a visual portrait of a city shaped by the convergence of history, landscape, and cultural memory.