MEET THE ARTIST: IGNACIO GARCIA

Honing his skills since he was a 4-year old in preschool, Ignacio Garcia always liked to draw Spiderman. It was easy, and enjoyed doing it. He was always told he would be an artist.

Now, his art incoporates much of Southwestern culture. His works reflects border life, pop culture and the current social changes going on within our nation.

He finds inspiration in the works from artist Mark Bradford and Gerald Richter, while offering his own uniqueness; the fundemental motivation of his work being “to challenge my audience’s and my point of view.”

Being a Tucson street muralist for 17 years, the Benson native is very proud to have created some of the most interesting and well known murals throughout Arizona.

One of his most favorite pieces has been the mural done on the Rialto Theatre of basketball announcer Bill Walton riding a jackalope. But there still many ideas that he hopes to paint one day. One of them being the walls of the City Court building, which he has said he would love to create scenery of all things Tucson.

Even the Biden campaign had reached to Garcia, asking him to paint a mural for Latino voters. In an interview with Tucson Guide, he says, “To have D.C calling me and know that they trust my work, I was very honored. Now that people know about it, the impact I want to and can provide ... I’m also just honored to know, after all these years, it actually finally showed through.”

Garcia can often be found, paintbrush in hand, crafting his next collection inside the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance’s Catalyst Arts & Maker Space located in the Tucson Mall.