‘He lit a spark in me’
Mural memorializing slain hoops star White will stand outside his grandmother’s home
Fedonta “JB” White will be the last image Jude Voss sees when she leaves her Santa Fe home and the first face to greet her when she returns. Voss, White’s grandmother, will receive the gift later this week when artist and family friend Sebastian “Vela” Velazquez finishes his latest project. He is using a 560-squarefoot wall on the side of Voss’ barn to create a mural in honor of the 18-year-old Santa Fe High School basketball star, who was slain at a late-night party in Chupadero in early August.
Another teen, Estevan Montoya, is charged in the fatal shooting and is awaiting his trial.
The mural at Voss’ home features White in his Santa Fe High uniform, releasing a shot with the ball in the air. The portrait of the smiling young man, affectionately nicknamed “June Bug” by family, will provide comfort to his grandmother and mother, Bianca Vega, who also lives there, Voss said.
“It’s like he’s protecting us, like he’s here,” she said, brushing away tears as she spoke about the artwork.
Velazquez, known for prominent local murals and projects across the nation, started working on Voss’ piece Friday night and anticipates finishing it by Wednesday. He initially hoped to complete it by Sunday night but wasn’t prepared to work on cold nights in Santa Fe.
The artist, who grew up in the city, had been living in Las Cruces and California for most of the year, working on a variety of pieces, when family friend Andrea Serna-Probst reached out to him about the proposed mural honoring White.
Velazquez said he had wanted to complete such a project since White’s death, but the timing didn’t work until this past weekend.
“Things aligned to now,” Velazquez said. “I had been traveling and doing all these other things, but I knew that I was going to come and be here.”
Voss said she heard about possible murals planned in remembrance of her grandson
on the city’s south side, but she wanted something more intimate for her family and friends to see when they came to her house. She initially considered using a smaller space of wall in her backyard, but the plans changed when Velazquez viewed the wall and envisioned a much bigger painting.
Voss said she will hold a private viewing by invitation for friends and family after the mural is completed this week.
“I told my kids, ‘We gotta do something,’ ” Voss said.
White and his family met Velazquez last year, just as White’s profile as a nationally sought-after basketball recruit began to take off.
The 6-foot-8 forward began receiving interest and visits from Power Five conference programs such as Texas Tech, Oregon State, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota and Texas Christian before he settled on playing close to home at the University of New Mexico in October 2019.
Velazquez painted red-and-white pumpkins with the UNM logo on them at the last moment when White made a verbal commitment to play for the school in his junior year. White did not tell his family about his intention to finish high school early and join the Lobos in 2020-21 until he was walking out the door for school that day.
White’s humility struck a chord with Velasquez. He said it contrasted with the boisterous, passionate persona White showed on the court. Velazquez added he felt a common bond with White because of the passion they both had for their craft.
While White often could be found in a gym working on his skills, Velazquez has been painting since he was 8 — mainly in the form of public murals. Velazquez has done public and private artwork for people across the West and in New Mexico for much of the last decade.
Velazquez recalled missing a flight in January when he learned of the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant. He felt the need to capture the moment with a mural in Bryant’s honor. A friend offered a wall, and Velazquez finished the project by the end of the day.
“[White] and I, we’re both figures of importance in our community — a public artist and a ball player,” Velazquez said. “With that comes a lot of pressure from clients or fans or anybody.
So when I met JB, I could recognize how humble he was apart from his talent,” Velazquez added. “That was really inspiring because I know the pressure that comes with it.
“He lit a spark in me, and I was inspired.”