Biography

Adriana M Garcia, an award winning artist, muralist, scenic designer was born and raised in the west-side of San Antonio, Texas. She received her BFA From Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied fine arts in Valencia, Spain. Her debut picture book, All Around Us written by Xelena González, (Cinco Puntos Press), was awarded the prestigious 2018 Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration and the 2018 Tomás Rivera Book Award in the picture book category among other children book honors.

Garcia just finished a mural entitled Changing the World to be installed on the campus of Northwest Vista College this fall. Adriana was selected and recognized as part of the Americans for the Arts 2019 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review (50 projects were selected out of 361) for the mural entitled De Todos Caminos Somos Todos Uno that she completed for the San Pedro Creek improvements project for the city of San Antonio’s third centennial celebration.

Garcia has created many community murals in collaboration with nonprofit organizations including SOMArts in California, South West Workers Union, Bill Haus Arts, San Anto Cultural Arts Center, and Casa de la Cultura in Del Rio, Texas. Her murals honor ancestors, speak to access to education as well as give voice to mental health and immigration issues.

Adriana has exhibited her artwork both locally and nationally and has been invited to present at conferences, schools and museums such as National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) and the McNay Art Museum. She has enjoyed working as an arts administrator and an art/design instructor for both youth and adult learners.

Garcia has also created scenic work with el Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista California as well as organizations in San Antonio such as the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.

Of her artworks Adriana notes, “I create as a way to document the lives I’ve shared in, it provides a way to honor a person’s existence and make visible the marks they have imprinted upon me and the environment- a legacy left as well as those still to come. Intimacy abounds in lives encountered. I aim to extract the inherent liminality of a moment before action as a way to articulate our stories.”