At over sixty-two feet in length and roughly ten feet in height, the newly completed mural on the west-facing wall of the Mercado Fresco Supermarket at 2620 Independence Boulevard, Come to the Table is the largest work to date for local artist Emily Alvarez.

“I feel really lucky to be a part of this,” Alvarez said when asked about Come to the Table, her second collaboration project with the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce along Independence Avenue. “Northeast is a really, freaking wonderful neighborhood and I’m really glad I was chosen to be a part of this project.”

Alvarez collaborated with other artists in 2021 on the alley mural on the back of the BP station at 4815 Independence Avenue. Come to the Table can be viewed as two pieces. The far left panel shows an outstretched hand, guiding a wide variety of fresh produce to the long, banquet table with a white table cloth that stretches over the remainder of the second panel.  Behind the table, people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds work together to put finished dishes such as tortillas, hummus, black beans, and Kibbeh, a Middle Eastern dish that consists of beef rolled into a wheat pastry and deep fried, on the table.

In the far right corner of the mural is an olive tree, something historically significant to the store’s general manager and part owner Sarah Saber.  In the center panel, on the left end of the table, lay two firefighter helmets, a somber reminder of the tragedy that took place on the site on October 12, 2015 when two Kansas City, MO Firefighters, John Mesh from Pumper 10 and Larry Leggio from “The Deuce,” Truck 2, both Northeast natives, lost their lives in the line of duty fighting a three-alarm arson fire at 2600 Independence Avenue.  The two helmets are surrounded by vines that represent the lifesaving care they gave the residents of the building.

“Northeast has such a large immigrant and refugee population, I really wanted the diversity of the community and the wide variety of multinational grocery items stocked by the store to be the central theme of the mural,” Alvarez added. “The vase of lilies on the table, signifying peace and unity, is really designed to bring everything together.”

Alvarez is a 2018 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Illustration. As a student she assisted Assistant Professor and Northeast resident Hector Casanova with the Scarritt School mural panels in 2017.

“I’ve gotten more feedback on this mural than anything else I’ve worked on,” said Alvarez, referring to the high level of foot traffic in the space between the two buildings. “It’s been some of the most encouraging I’ve ever had.”  So encouraging, Alvarez now shops at the store. “It’s really incredible hearing all the languages spoken by the people inside,” she said.

Come to the Table is the latest mural collaboration between local artists and the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Independence Avenue Community Improvement District.