When the Postal Service asked Rafael López to design a commemorative stamp representing Latin American culture in the United States, he knew exactly what to feature: a mariachi band.
And he knew that one stamp alone would not be enough.
“The contribution of mariachi music is huge. We can’t recognize it with just one stamp. We need to create at least a series of five,” the Mexican-American artist told NPR at the presentation this month at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.
“So I went back to the director and said, what if we had five different musicians? You can’t fit five of them into one little step. I don’t think that’s enough credit, you know, for mariachi music .”
It’s the first time According to the Postal Museum, a mariachi band is featured on US stamps. And for some in the Latino community, it’s recognizing how their heritage and culture are part of the American fabric. López himself divides his time between San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and San Diego, California.
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Gabriel J. Sánchez/NPR
He used his upbringing in Mexico City as part of the inspiration for the stamps, particularly the band members and the vibrant colors that fill the stamps, which have an initial print run of 18 million sets.
López said he wanted to focus on the features of the characters depicted on the stamps, leaving a nondescript background of pastel-colored houses of Mexican antiquity.
“The background is very simple. It just looks like some kind of Mexican town,” he said. “But if you look really close, it’s just like the color shapes. And I wanted to focus on the actual expression of the singers.”
The features López focused on were more passionate expressions made by those musicians at the height of their harmony. The band members’ faces compete for space on the stamps with their uniforms and instruments.
“They are beautiful uniforms, those Charro outfits,” López said.
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Gabriel J. Sánchez/NPR
The centerpiece is the leader of the group, a violinist holding her instrument in her left hand and her sombrero in her right as she belts out her operatic ballads. López set it up by design.
“I love when a female mariachi singer is there. I also wanted her to be center stage, and I just wanted to have some variety, you know, that you can tell that not only is she very talented on the violin, but she might as well lay it down and just belt out a great song.”
The creative process was not fast
It took two years of development before the set was launched. Each stamp costs 60 cents and will hold a cultural legacy forever.
Images of group members come from a long list of approved designs, images and illustrations provided by the Postal Service.
But when one of the models became unavailable, López used his nephew’s face to create the musician wielding the vihuela – a stringed instrument that resembles a guitar.
“I said, ask your brother to take pictures from different angles of your face and pretend you’re playing the violin,” López said. “And after about 30 or 40 photos, I picked the best one.”
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Gabriel J. Sánchez/NPR
Mariachi comes to life in the museum
López wasn’t the only artist at the launch event.
Cañas y su Mariachi de Oro filled the halls of the museum with music, entertaining visitors and volunteers. The five-piece band, based in Northern Virginia, played favorites like cute baby AND Crazy Mariachi wants to dancebut the crowd of mostly families was amazed when Little birds to dance slowly moved on to an interpretation of The little shark.
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Gabriel J. Sánchez/NPR
José Cañas, the band’s guitarist and lead singer, told NPR he’s happy to see a band like his on American stamps.
“It is an honor for us. It is an honor for us.
López said the rhythms and rhythms of the music — playing in an institution of American history — are key to a great mariachi sound that anyone can enjoy, regardless of whether they understand Spanish.
“Before you know it, everyone is celebrating life and patting each other on the back. So it’s that universal quality that mariachi music has that you can’t help but feel.”
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Gabriel J. Sánchez/NPR
