We recently connected with Jesse Fregozo and have shared our conversation below.

Jesse, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I dreamed of pursuing an artistic path professionally at various moments when I was growing up and was a self-taught artist but I felt that after my artwork was part of the 2010 Congressional Art Competition in Washington DC, and got recognized by the US House of Representatives, was what pushed me at full to consider a career in the Arts as a professional and go on to California State University, Dominguez Hills in pursue of a Bachelors degree in the Arts- which I ended up acquiring, I double majored in Art & Design and Studio Art. After this happened I began to work in the field and decided to take it a step further, I then started my own business, Fregozo Arte LLC.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello everyone, my name is Jesse Fregozo and I am a Los Angeles based artist from Boyle Heights. Besides being an Artist and exhibiting artwork, I am also a Teaching Artist at the Homeboy Art Academy and work with formally impacted and incarcerated youth as well as a Muralist currently working with the Los Angeles Unified School District, LAUSD. I got involved with the Homeboy Art Academy and learned the importance of Muralism through a great friend and mentor Artist Fabian Debora. Fabian Debora is the founder and executive director of the Homeboy Art Academy who opened his doors for me back in 2021 and allowed me to work as a teaching artist. What I think sets me apart from other artists is the way I fuel my creativity for the production of my artwork. I always focus my artwork around my community and identity because I believe these are the subjects I know best and because it is important as an artist to be the voice of its community and share with the world what happens in it through one’s personal lived experiences.

I am proud of all the work I’ve done throughout my career whether it’s a mural or canvas work because all have represented a piece of who I am and what I stand for. One of the latest commissions I’ve done titled “Me painting Virgen de Guadalupe” is one of the very memorable ones so far due to the technicality and thought process throughout the whole painting, also in regards to materials used and the art collector who owns this piece today. This painting went to an Art Collector who owns work from various Iconic artists that I’ve looked up to since I was a kid like Andy Warhol and Shepard Fairey. He was introduced to me by a great friend and mentor Artist Man One.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are two very rewarding aspects of being an artist for me. The first one is when I notice a connection between people and my artwork for example when I am exhibiting artwork at a gallery and people begin to ask questions about my work and want to learn more about it. This is very rewarding because I feel we both speak the same language and we have a similarity of some sort that we can have a conversation about. The Second is when I am working on a Mural and have the ability to hand down my brush to a kid from the community to help me continue painting. Seeing their excitement to paint and be creative is priceless because when I was growing up in my community of Boyle Heights I never had the opportunity to interact with artists much less use professional painting supplies due to the lack of resources. Therefore, for me to do this it truly means a lot both as an artist and just by the simple fact that I am part of the community.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, the mission driving my creative journey is to continue sharing my story through my artistic career and show the world who I am, where I come from, and what living in the City of Los Angeles as a first-generation Mexican American is like. Always lead by example in my community, as I am being taught by my mentors to do so, and of course, one day provide opportunities and various platforms for future artists in my community that would help them in their artistic careers like they were provided to me when I started my own.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fregozo_arte/

Image Credits
@artabovereality @expressions_oflife