A Muralist’s Journey from Portraits to Public Art with Ignacio Garcia

🎨 Join us this week on Life Along The Streetcar as we delve into the colorful world of Ignacio Garcia, a muralist who has transformed the face of Tucson with his dynamic and thought-provoking street art.

Episode Highlights:

• The Origin Story: Discover how Ignacio transitioned from being a DJ to a muralist, creating some of Tucson’s most iconic public artworks.
• Artistic Process Unveiled: Ignacio shares his creative process, from concept to vibrant realization on the city’s walls.
• Controversy and Community: Explore the stories and debates surrounding public art in Tucson through Ignacio’s experiences.
• A Canvas of Culture: Learn how Ignacio’s murals reflect the rich history and evolving identity of Tucson.

🔍 Dive Deeper into Ignacio’s Story Curious about the intricate details of Ignacio’s artistic journey? We’ve got you covered! Check out the full transcript of our conversation with Ignacio below. Get a closer look at his inspirations, challenges, and the impactful role his art plays in our community.

📣 Get Involved! Inspired by Ignacio’s story? Want to learn more about his art or nominate an incredible community member for an interview with Tom Heath? We’d love to hear from you! Contact Tom Heath to share your thoughts, learn more about Ignacio Garcia, or suggest a future guest who’s making a difference in Tucson.

Tom Heath

Good morning. It’s a beautiful Sunday in the old Pueblo and you’re listening to KTDT Tucson. Thank you for spending a part of your brunch hour with us on your downtown Tucson community sponsored, all volunteer powered rock and roll radio station. On this week’s show, we’re going to speak with muralist Ignacio Garcia, who was putting the finishing touches on his massive Rialto wall mural called La Catarista. We’re going to chat about his career, his vision and the slight controversy surrounding his newest project. Today is January 21st, 2024. My name is Tom Heath and you’re listening to Life Along the Streetcar. Each and every Sunday, our focus is on social, cultural and economic impacts in Tucson’s urban core. And we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about. From A Mountain to the University of Arizona and all stops in between, you get the inside track right here on 99 .1 FM streaming at downtownradio .org, also available on your iPhone or Android. If you use our very own Downtown

Tom Heath

Radio Tucson app, and if you want to interact with us on the show, Best Ways are through Facebook and Instagram. And if you want more information about us or our book, Listen to Past Episodes, you can do that on our website, lifealongthestreetcar .org. And of course, we invite you to listen to the podcast on many of those platforms. I think most people are on Spotify and iTunes, but we’re out there on a lot of others as well. Well, one of the side things that I do besides this show is have a Tucson gallery. And in there, we have a lot of local artists. And part of that, we get to meet with them and we do these podcasts called Meet the Artists. And you can get all those on our on that website, which is the Tucson gallery dot com. And sometimes there’s a crossover. And this is one of those opportunities where we can talk to Ignacio Garcia, who’s doing a mural on the side of the Rialto building. It’s replacing an old one, so there’s a little bit of a controversy. But we wanted to talk to Ignacio

Tom Heath

about his passions, his visions and the mural. And this is recorded in the Tucson Gallery Studios about a week ago. Today, we’re talking with one of our fabulous muralists, the very well -known here in Tucson and I think right now, right now, controversial muralist Ignacio Garcia. Yes. Welcome.

Ignacio Garcia

Thank you for having me. I appreciate this, Tom.

Tom Heath

All right. So the first question, how many murals have you done? Four thousand, five thousand?

Ignacio Garcia

No, actually, I just counted them, I think maybe around 40, 50. No, these are just like for the public to see. But oh, yeah, the residential ones for when I started, I’m sure there’s probably maybe another 20, I think. So not much, not much. No, you’ve done more than that. I’m sure I have. I literally went to my all my my resources there that I had. And I think it was around maybe 50 to 60, not much.

Tom Heath

That that surprised me. I mean, I know they’re they’re big. So they’re they take a lot of time.

Ignacio Garcia

I think so. I don’t I try not to rush it. That’s probably the reason why I really take my time on it. And because when you have something that speaks for itself, it stands out. So I really enjoy that. And so I don’t try to mark my territory.

Tom Heath

So you’re a quality, not quantity guy. Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. I had the privilege for the other podcast to do life along the streetcar. I interviewed a couple in twenty twenty three who had recently gotten married and for their wedding, they didn’t ask for gifts. They asked for money for their GoFundMe site. That’s right. Their mural.

Ignacio Garcia

That’s right. That’s right. I was I was quite surprised. I was honored and I was like, what a great idea. And just to kind of show his love towards his wife to have this beautiful mural and what they’re all about. I was like, I’m Wolf. Let’s do it. Let’s do it. So I was really stoked for it.

Tom Heath

But I remember talking with them. I said, did you did you ask Ignacio what to do? Did he give you an idea? And and then, you know, I get the response was, you know, we gave him some thoughts as to what we wanted to have incorporated. But we wanted him to have the freedom to create his vision of that. Yeah. And and that got me thinking, like, how how do these murals get created? Do you go to someone and say, hey, I want to do this on your wall or do they come to you with a vision or do they say, hey, we we kind of like something that’s fun and in.

Ignacio Garcia

It’s a little bit of everything. I think, first of all, is what they are all about. I like to kind of read their brains and kind of dissect what they’re all like, what their personality is. And from there on to kind of do some research. And then I kind of give that back to them and say, what do you think? And they just love it. And so kind of go back and forth. It’s a sense of appreciation of what they’re all about, because I just like doing different things. I’m just very curious of what how people think and what they’re all about. And I kind of like to express that. So and again, it’s every project is different. And I like the challenge of that. And I think it’s probably because of that. It’s just learning along the way and getting to meet people. And surprisingly, it’s just the information that I gained from that. Just a one on one person. It’s just I like it’s addicting.

Tom Heath

I mean, so by the time the mural actually gets by the time you start putting paint on a wall, you’ve done this mural dozens of times and paper and prints and you’ve worked back and forth.

Ignacio Garcia

Yes, it takes me at least the research takes me probably twice as long to do it right, because to make sure to the thing is that, you know, wherever the wall is at, you want to see what how it complements the building and the surrounding. You don’t want to have like an eyesore that people will just kind of be like, like that’s and it just takes away from other beauty elements around the community or or the buildings. So I try to balance everything out because it does complement the surroundings as well. So but it’s. Yeah, I have to kind of make sure everything’s fine. And sometimes you’d be surprised. I try to throw it in a little something ugly, just kind of balance it out, because I think that’s one of my little tricks that I try to do, because it’s you have like, for example, five different renders to kind of start off. You have to throw one in there that’s completely way off and just kind of weird just to kind of you have to kind of refresh your eye in that way. OK, interesting. So

Ignacio Garcia

but sometimes they like that. So it kind of throws everything off for the originally. But I love that adventure. And it kind of it’s just it’s always it’s just fascinating. It’s it’s it’s it’s like exploring a new territory every single time.

Tom Heath

So when did you know you were going to be a muralist? At what point? I mean, did you what were you doing before you were painting on walls?

Ignacio Garcia

I was I was actually painting musicians like celebrities. And this was painting portraits of them or painting

Tom Heath

painting on them, like Kiss, like going on stage.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah. Like naked painting on their body, you know. No, it’s portraits of of what they what what they do, because usually I used to work in the radio station as a DJ. So I used to do that live, like mixing live. And and so with that, you get to meet the artist. And then before they become famous, you get to meet them in person. So that’s kind of how I got my way into it. And they kind of wanted some portraits themselves. And finally, now they became world famous, like Eminem, for example. I mean, that can just go on like back in the early 2000s.

Tom Heath

That wasn’t in Tucson, though.

Ignacio Garcia

It was in Tucson and in Phoenix. OK, so this was something that kind of came unexpected in my lab. I was actually in Phoenix at that time, DJing. And I just I needed to come to Tucson to get away from Phoenix for a bit. And it was only going to be for like three months. And I ended up staying here and then working in the radio for Hot 98. And yeah, so I was there for two and a half years, you know.

Tom Heath

And so you meet these artists and then you would start doing like portraits of them?

Ignacio Garcia

Started doing portraits. Yeah, towards the end, Clear Channel took over. So it wasn’t the same. The creative field was pretty much gone. So that was slowly we just kind of networking with them and figuring out a way to to help you to help out the new artists. So at that time, you know, musicians were actually depending on the DJs because we were playing their music in the clubs to get their word out there. So that’s how kind of they were coming to us. We were more valuable at that time. And to see where DJs stand now, it’s it’s unremarkable to me, you know.

Tom Heath

And so then at what point did you decide, hey, I want to I want to paint on walls?

Ignacio Garcia

So so then I had this guy that my sister was getting her hair done by him, wanted a portrait of himself. So he liked it so much. He just came up and said, hey, would you like to paint my ceiling? Like, you know, he has this like really kind of kind of Versace, you know, you know, elaborate, you know, ornate house. I was like, oh, yeah, it’s a really cool idea. You know, it’s like, yeah, let’s try it out. It was just more like a fun thing to do. He trusted me. I was like, you know, we can we can always repaint it. So it was something to kind of try out. Turned out to end up being like three months doing that. And every, you know, it ended up being a three month project. That was my first mural. And so surprisingly, it just took off like crazy. So now I’m going to show you this real quick. That way you’ll see what this is.

Tom Heath

My first. This is great radio people. He’s showing pictures. So I know I have this radio.

Ignacio Garcia

I would want you to to to explain what you see here real quick.

Tom Heath

Oh, no, he’s going to he’s going to flip this around on me.

Ignacio Garcia

Oh, no. OK, never mind. I guess I can’t find it right now.

Tom Heath

Well, what we’ll do is we’ll go.

Ignacio Garcia

So this was my first mural.

Tom Heath

This is like the Sistine Chapel. Exactly. This I mean, we got to put this on the on the the Tucson Gallery’s Facebook page so they can see this. But yeah, this looks like it’s the it’s like a like a church in Rome, like done by one of the great masters.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah, that was me. I was 23 years old. That’s you. That’s me. Yeah.

Tom Heath

We got to put this picture on Facebook so people can see that because that that does not that does not look like you. It looks like a little kid.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah, that was a long time ago. And that’s how it all started. And then it kind of word of spread and then did a lot of these fresco kind of because at that time that was popular.

Tom Heath

And now now you see a lot of public work. So what does that look like? How do you get into the into the public setting? Is that do you do audition for that or do people come seek you out?

Ignacio Garcia

At first, you just ask, hey, you know, can I paint your wall? Sure. You know, again, you know, it’s a great way to kind of get your your name out there. But, you know, at first it was at, you know, 10 years ago, people thought it was like, oh, it’s kind of cool. But it wasn’t as gravitating as it is now. I mean, now it’s like globally people want to put murals everywhere. I think it’s going to last for a long time now because it’s the only way it’s like it’s a marketing strategy. And overall, it’s not like like social media that’s always instant because now you actually you’re actually seeing a big piece. And so I think that’s becoming an outdoor gallery everywhere. So it’s it’s going to pretty much going to last there. So, yeah. So, yeah.

Tom Heath

And I don’t know how murals work across the country, but in Tucson, it seems like we spend a lot of time trying to create something that is appropriate for the building, appropriate for the neighborhood, appropriate for the topic. So it’s it’s not just something that’s just a commercial for whatever the business is. It’s really about the community.

Ignacio Garcia

No, I I deliberately that was my mission at first. This was like 10 years ago to kind of create a kind of a an outdoor gallery. I don’t know why. I think it was just it was a stupid idea that I had at that time because, you know, I always thought I was like, well, if people go to Italy and they see all these beautiful pieces in, you know, in the public and it’s historic, you have to see these frescoes and all that. So I’m like, why can’t Tucson have that? You know, I mean, or anywhere can have that. So I was like, Tucson was a great place to breathe that.

Tom Heath

We are in our interview with Ignacio Garcia. It’s part of the Tucson Galleries Meet the Artist series. We’re talking with him about his history and his vision for murals. We’re also going to talk about his newest one on the side of the Rialto Theater and a little bit about the the one it replaced, which some people are sad to see it go. My name is Tom Heath. You’re listening to Life Along the Streetcar and Downtown Radio 99 .1 FM and streaming on downtown radio dot org.

Tom Heath

Well, as Paleo Dave was mentioning there, the Tucson Gallery dot com website, you can listen to other interviews

Tom Heath

that we have done with artists here in Tucson. Sometimes they are on this show, but we’ve got 30 or so interviews out there and only a couple of them have made it over to us here on Life Along the Streetcar. We’re going to jump back into that. If you’re just joining us, we’re interviewing Ignacio Garcia as part of the Meet the Artist series with the Tucson Gallery and kind of talking about his vision and his history. And we’re going to in this second half, jump into a little bit more about some of the I don’t want to say controversy. It’s kind of controversial, but it’s really kind of a minor. You know, people are sad to see his mural go, but he’s decided it’s time for a refresh and update. And we’re going to learn a little bit more about that here in the second half of the interview.

Ignacio Garcia

And then, of course, the people here are just so open and friendly and they’re like, yeah, sure. So slowly started becoming that way in the public. But then I think 2016, that’s when it kind of started. But what it really, really started was after COVID, I think at the George Floyd, that that kind of made the statement of of putting the message across and somehow just kind of carried it on its own, surprisingly. But I’ll never forget that. I mean, people think it’s just kind of went on on its own. But I honestly think I mean, it was the George Floyd. Incident that actually sparked that and kind of put that message across. And because of that, it allowed artists to really put their, you know, their talent in there and then just kind of spread it that way.

Tom Heath

I think I think the community impact is important. You know, economically, it’s a huge win for Tucson. I mean, you know, in the Tucson gallery, people come in for the murals. They think people come to Tucson to tour murals. I mean, the collective muralist population is creating a lot of economic development for Tucson.

Ignacio Garcia

Yes. And that’s and that’s something that I learned along the way that I’m like, you know, if this is going to be something that we can provide and including with the other artists that I actually talk to them, this is actually during COVID. I talked to Joe, Joe Padgett and Jessica Gonzalez. Isaac Caruso, I was trying to get Rocky Syfy to kind of say, hey, let’s just team up here instead of, you know, instead of being independently and kind of not knowing each other. I think let’s just kind of collaborate. So originally I had an idea. It’s like so we ended up going to Joe’s Padgett’s house and then we had a meeting and I was surprised with the follow through. So it was really nice to the first time to actually meet other muralists. Exactly the same. I know hard work that we do behind, you know, painting, you know, painting a mural. But and then since then, we just kind of felt like we understood the hard work that goes along with. So we kind of became closer because of that, because not

Ignacio Garcia

many people understood the hard work that went behind it. So it’s hard to explain that to people that, you know, so we just clicked. And since then, we’ve just been helping each other out and helping other artists and supporting them and and trying to influence other artists, too, as well.

Tom Heath

I know when we when we started the gallery, you were the first person we approached in long story behind that, which we won’t get into here. But one of your missions at that time was to make sure that other people had an opportunity to get into the art world. It wasn’t just about selling your work. It was about giving an opportunity for others.

Ignacio Garcia

Absolutely. That was my mission for a very long time. I felt that if having these public pieces of work, the one thing that I OK, the reason why I had a passion for that is because when I was living in L .A., I see these beautiful works. And during that art movement of the street art that was happening at that time with, you know, Banksy and Shepard Berry, Shepard Fairey, you know, the invader. These were like the beginning stages of street art. So that was the kind of the the beginning of like being street art, finally getting accepted. And then but I was there. I was there to see that that development happen. And so and I’m like, why Tucson cannot have this type of quality of work? So and then and then I was like, well, let’s see where it goes. Let’s see where, you know, putting these types of work and putting that quality into it, because this is exactly what I felt that Tucson needed. Because before it was the art world in Tucson wasn’t not like well received and it was just devalued.

Ignacio Garcia

And that’s what really aggravated was like, you know, people are, you know, people are really working hard to sell a painting, but they’re getting less value for it. So then I decided, like, you know, people need to be exposed by, you know, by this. And so that’s why I decided to push it hard for myself. And I’m doing this by myself in some cases, you know what I mean? It’s like, you know, I it’s like it’s something that I have a mission to do to to to kind of influence anyone or a young artist or any artist that has that that ability to do that or wants to do that.

Tom Heath

So, yeah, I know you’ve been very good with your time. And if you follow Ignacio, you know, and reach out to him on social media, he’s usually pretty good about responding and and where he can providing some guidance. I know you’ve been very helpful to a lot of young artists.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, whatever I can do, I need tips and stuff. More than happy to do it. But it it’s hard, man. It’s no joke. It’s a it’s a hard, you know, medium that to to get yourself into. I mean, I’m like I’m not worried, like like being outside in the cold, freezing cold, you know what I mean? The weather is unpredictable.

Tom Heath

I went I went up in that lift one time with you just to get a experience. And I’m like, whoa, this is like it’s vertigo up here. And it’s very vertical that this thing starts shaking. You’re like, man, you got to paint on that.

Ignacio Garcia

Absolutely. So that’s why I wanted you to come, because it was very important to me for you to describe it, how it is as a muralist, you know, in that level, you know, like I’m like my face is halfway burnt because, you know, there’s so much sun that kind of reflects back to the wall. So I’m kind of like freezer burnt, you know?

Tom Heath

Well, we’re we’re part of an event today called Meet the Artist. And I’m going to start wrapping it up here because we got a pretty big crowd waiting to meet with you. And a part of the reason why I kind of can’t let this go without circling back is the controversy. So you we’ve had a mural on the side of the Rialto since 2016. Yes. It’s called Jack and Bill’s a jackalope with with Bill Walton as a little cowboy riding this jackalope. Yes. And after seven years with with you and the Rialto, it was time to change this. Yes. And and so what goes into that? I mean, this like what makes that decision for you?

Ignacio Garcia

So let’s start off with this. First of all, the original idea was actually a little girl right in the jacket, it was a representation of Bill Walton, a little girl. I’m not I’m in the middle. I’m in the middle. I don’t I can’t decide. So to be honest, it’s just when the rodeo days I was that it happened here and I’m like this only Tucson has this. So I’m like, what a great way to kind of represent Tucson that way. You know what I mean? So I thought of like, you know, instead of having a horse, you know, or like anything, I was like, how cool would it be? A jackalope would be because not many people knew what a jackalope was. And so so I came up with this concept and I just like, this is great. The day before I started, I wanted to start to paint. They ended up changing it to say, hey, can you change him? Can you change it to Bill Walton? And I’m like in front of all these people here and I’m like, who’s Bill Walton? And they’re like, what? You don’t know. I was like, I’m sorry, I don’t

Ignacio Garcia

I’m just an artist.

Tom Heath

If you don’t know, Bill Walton is a sportscaster. He’s a former basketball player. His son played at the U of A. And if you listen to U of A broadcast, he is sometimes he’s a little bit verbose, and that means some people like him. Some people don’t. But yeah, but a lot of people, if you follow U of A basketball, at least know him.

Ignacio Garcia

Exactly. It’s amazing to know that this just even just the opportunity to know that that change, it was completely unexpected on my end. But to know that that controversial situation definitely kind of put me in the middle of it. But I’m still the same. I don’t know. I’m not into sports. So I’m not I don’t know much.

Tom Heath

Or you would have any time with that.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah. So it’s like one of those people that really hate them or people love them or just don’t know. So I’m in the category that I just don’t know because I’m not into much of the sports, so sorry.

Tom Heath

But then that’s been up there for a while. And and now what you’re painting is tell us about the one you’re doing.

Ignacio Garcia

So the reason why it was for a while, I’ve been wanting to to paint over it because it felt like it didn’t feel like it was downtown. It’s more like a university kind of a perspective. And so and then didn’t get the chance. And then now a new owners in involved. So like now finally kind of that got that gateway to be open. So it took a while to kind of get this opportunity going. But finally it went through. And then and I felt like something that kind of, again, it’s a sense of an identity of what Tucson is. People love the empowered woman. So I’m like, oh, maybe I can kind of branch it off. But now it’s like for the first time I could actually paint something that it’s really about me in my style. For the first time, I actually kind of expressing myself as an artist. And it’s bizarrely to go back to the traditional ways or traditional art. It’s just interesting because it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work. It’s time consuming. But I’m so devoted to it to make it look just perfect and

Ignacio Garcia

to really reflect on Tucson, what it is, because I mean, to know that one number, no, no, no. Another thing that I really wanted to kind of connect to is that the growing music scene that’s coming here to Tucson. And that felt like I needed to have that connected for the future of the to see how far it goes.

Tom Heath

So before we wrap up, though, tell us a little bit about what the image will look like. And of course, we’ll have this on Facebook page and you’ll see it as. But it’s like a guitarista.

Ignacio Garcia

Like, yeah, like guitarista. Yeah, the the the woman in the guitar. Yeah. Or the female guitarist.

Tom Heath

And it’s very beautiful. It’s very colorful. If you’ve seen The Empowered Woman, it has a similar style. Yeah. And it’s it’s just it seems appropriate for the side of the Rialto.

Ignacio Garcia

Yeah. And I want to make this clear. This is something that I did not lean to lean to that style. I mean, it’s just because it’s something that people can really connect to. So out of respect, it’s just like I think it’s the right thing, how it’s kind of shifting on its own and to see how Tucson is actually, to be honest, I think Tucson is actually shaping it the way it is. So I’m following and listening to the people and valuing and see how it’s evolving. And that kind of represents what I’m what I’m used to, what I’m seeing on the Tucson scene. So this is not my major perspective, but it’s our community. But it’s it’s it’s something that kind of how how the community kind of made this in this way.

Tom Heath

Ignacio, thank you so much for your time.

Ignacio Garcia

Well, thank you, Tom. I wish I could talk some more about it. But yeah, we’ll get it. We’ll we’ll get you back on. We’ll do a second version of this. All right. Thank you. You’re welcome.

Tom Heath

That is Ignacio Garcia. We were recording that as part of our Meet the Artist series from the Tucson Gallery. We had Ignacio on this show about four years ago. I think it was in 2019. Actually, five years at this point as he was finishing up running of the pinata. So if you go over to our website, lifelongstreetcar .org in the search bar, put in Ignacio or pinata or something to that effect. And you can bring up that interview we did. My name is Tom Heath. You’re listening to Lifelong Streetcar and Downtown Radio 99 .1 FM and streaming on downtownradio .org.

Tom Heath

Support for Downtown Radio is provided by the Tucson Gallery, located in downtown Tucson inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress Street. The Tucson Gallery offers original work, reproductions and merchandise from Tucson artists like Joe Pagic, Jessica Gonzalez, Ignacio Garcia and many more. For information about all the artists, including when they will be live at the gallery, head to the TucsonGallery .com or find them on Instagram and Facebook as Tucson Gallery.

Tom Heath

Well, we’re wrapping up here pretty rapidly. This is Episode 280. And I want to invite you to stick around for a bit and listen to Ted Brzezelski as he interviews writers and others in the labor movement as part of his show, Words and Work. And then Ty Logan at the top of the hour and back into the music at 1 p .m. If you have anybody out there that we should have on the show, make sure you let us know. You can share your comments, your questions, your concerns through our social media. And if you have a Tucson focused social media account, you know, let us know. We we’d like to collaborate with you and share all that information that you’ve got to make a more impactful community dialogue. As always, our opening music is courtesy of Orion Hood. And I want to thank James Portis as our production specialist. Well, my name is Tom Heath and I host and produce this show. James does a lot of the work behind the scenes to make it make it accessible through all of our different platforms. We’re

Tom Heath

going to leave you with music today by Antonia Jimenez. She’s a Spanish guitarist, and we thought we would do this in honor of Ignacio’s newest mural. It’s a single from 2021 called Materna. I hope you have a great weekend. Tune in next Sunday for more life along the streetcar.