SHRINERS CHILDREN'S INTERIOR.
An acrylic mural for Asiya Shriners that turns their San Mateo interior into a visual story of place, fraternity, philanthropy and more than a century of care for children.
WALK THROUGH
THE STORY.
The mural unfolds along the interior architecture as a continuous sequence of Bay Area landmarks, Shriners imagery and painted ornament.
A CORRIDOR
BECOMES A JOURNEY.
Javier Rocabado was commissioned by Asiya Shriners of San Mateo to design and install an acrylic mural inside their building at 1925 Elkhorn Court.
The mural extends approximately 24 feet by 6 feet, transforming a long interior passage into a narrative environment. Instead of treating the wall as a single framed picture, Javier used the corridor itself as the format: viewers move alongside the work and discover the imagery in sequence.
The project visually connects Asiya's Bay Area identity with the philanthropic mission of Shriners Children's. Painted Victorian architecture, the Golden Gate Bridge, city scenes and Shriners imagery place the work unmistakably in Northern California while the figures, vehicles and ceremonial references connect the space back to the fraternity that commissioned it.
ONE LANGUAGE.
TWO SURFACES.
Javier developed the interior mural as a visual continuation of the exterior ceramic-tile commission. The painted borders, framed scenes and ornamental rhythm echo the architectural logic of tile decoration while shifting the medium from glazed ceramic to acrylic paint.
Javier describes the concept as being inspired by Islamic art and the use of decorative tile on architecture. That reference is especially visible in the way the mural is structured through borders, repeated ornament and a sequence of image fields rather than one uninterrupted illusionistic scene.
The connection has a broader art-historical basis: geometric, repetitive and vegetal decoration has long been used across Islamic architecture to organize large wall surfaces, and painted or glazed ceramic tiles have historically functioned as architectural decoration on both interiors and exteriors.
FRAMED SCENES
Individual views read almost like windows while remaining part of one continuous architectural composition.
ORNAMENT
Decorative borders create continuity from scene to scene and connect the painted interior to the exterior tile concept.
BAY AREA
Victorian architecture, the Golden Gate Bridge and city imagery root the work in the visual identity of the region.
SHRINERS
Ceremonial clothing, vehicles and fraternity imagery place the commission within Asiya's own history and culture.
Shriners Children's opened its first hospital in 1922 and has now spent more than a century providing pediatric specialty care.
THE STORY
BEHIND THE WALL.
Asiya wanted the mural to represent the philanthropic work that has defined the Shriners' relationship with children's healthcare for more than a century.
Shriners Children's traces its healthcare mission to 1922, when the first hospital opened in Shreveport, Louisiana. The system says it has since cared for more than 1.5 million children while expanding into a network of hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers and outreach programs.
In Northern California, Asiya's connection remains practical as well as symbolic. Its current Hospital Transportation Committee coordinates volunteer trips that help children and families reach appointments at Shriners Children's Northern California.
That transportation mission gives the mural's imagery of vehicles, movement and civic space an additional resonance: the fraternity's service to children is not an abstract idea but something carried out through real journeys made by volunteers and families.
SAN MATEO / BAY AREA
SHRINERS INTERNATIONAL
LOCAL HISTORY.
LIVING TRADITION.
Asiya is one of the older Shriners chapters in the organization. Current Shriners International directories trace the chapter's original dispensation to March 1883. Its present headquarters are at 1925 Elkhorn Court in San Mateo.
Asiya's own historical material notes that its Patrol was organized in 1902 and that the chapter was formerly known as Islam Temple. Today, the chapter serves San Mateo and surrounding Bay Area communities while continuing its connection to the Shriners Children's philanthropy.
Even one of the mural's most distinctive motifs — the antique red fire truck — connects to Asiya's public identity. Recent parade documentation lists an Asiya Section Crew antique 1937 fire truck with calliope, alongside the small parade vehicles traditionally associated with Shriners units.
EXPLORE THE
CONTEXT.
Official chapter website and current San Mateo headquarters.
VISIT ↗ 02 SHRINERS INTERNATIONALOfficial listing for Asiya Shriners and its San Mateo address.
VISIT ↗ 03 ROAD TO CAREAsiya's own account of its Hospital Transportation Committee and the volunteer journeys that connect children with care.
READ ↗ 04 100 YEARSShriners Children's history of a century of hope, healing and pediatric specialty care.
READ ↗ 05 THE HEALTHCARE MISSIONThe current Shriners Children's mission, history and patient-centered model of care.
EXPLORE ↗ 06 ISLAMIC ORNAMENTThe Metropolitan Museum of Art on geometric pattern, repetition and architectural decoration in Islamic art.
READ ↗