We were lucky to catch up with Maribel Galvan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Maribel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Growing up in East Los Angeles as the youngest of 6, art and personal creativity was something that we always had in the home but was seen more as a hobby or hidden escape. My mother was a home decor DIY queen. She and the tias would sign up for the free art workshops held at our local park, looked forward to putting her personal touch to every holiday season, and even made our prize-winning Halloween costumes as kids. My brothers and sisters had talents of their own. I remember sneaking through my older sister’s sketchbook and being in awe of her cyberpunk and still life art sketches. When one of my older brothers served time in jail and later in prison, I looked forward to the sketches and calligraphy work he adorned his letters, drawings or hand-made birthday cards. When it came time to do any art projects for school (whether in California or Washington State), I quickly learned how to be resourceful with the guidance of all the creatives that surrounded me.
This part of myself and family, for a long time, was something that we kept in-house. If shared, it was done so as a gift from the heart–something we felt uncomfortable placing a monetary value on. As an undergraduate student, I donated several original art pieces and designs for poetry groups, silent auctions, and even traded a painting in exchange for my graduation pictures. When I served in AmeriCorps, I painted a few large-scale murals to build trust and a good working relationship with the middle school I was assigned to. This would also be the first time that I would get scolded by a co-worker that I start looking at these projects as labor, and that I consider honoring myself and the labor that I had been giving for free. She ended up giving me first paid commission opportunity where I designed large panels that were placed on a school bus during a Pride Parade, to highlight their school supply donation campaign.
In 2016, we experienced the biggest loss in our family with the death of my mother–who had been battling with leukemia. After we wrapped up her services, I quit my job I had at the time, cashed out my 401k and drove south. I was wanting to escape, find some type of comfort from family in Cali, or simply find something that made me feel my mom. What I ended up finding was the visual medicine that I needed at the time. I cruised around our old stomping grounds and ended up taking pictures of all the Virgen de Guadalupe murals I came across in businesses, people’s homes, freeway walls. Later doing the same with the long-standing murals we pass by so many times on our way through downtown or walking home from school–filling my heart with the warmth it had been missing.
When I decided to come back home to the Pacific Northwest, my life was a literal blank canvas. Creating art became my personal meditation and escape from the constant grief. In that healing journey, I decided to do what none of us in our family had–share it for all to see. The beautiful response from friends and family, were followed by invitations to participate in pop-up markets, and small shows. And so began my unintentional journey as a full-time artist for a few years. Art led me to let go of any fears and challenge my imposter syndrome. It also pushed me to let folks back into my life, blessing me with new experiences and sharing space back into community–truly saving me from one of my darkest times.
Having focused my studies and work around community building, resource navigating, and advocacy–stepping into the creative sector also led me to see the need for advocacy support for creatives in community spaces. This ultimately led me to taking on contract work opportunities, and eventually my current role as Director of Arts & Culture at Mi Centro in Tacoma, Washington. In this role my focus on is on how we create accessible learning opportunities and experiences for our local community to feel seen and celebrated. All the while creating/strengthening relationships with creatives and local organizations to continue supporting and creating opportunities for local artist, creatives, chefs, and community organizers.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a visual artist empowered and inspired by my cultural roots as a Chicana, Mexicana, Zacatecana, and growing up in/around Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest. My art focuses on unapologetically celebrating the multidimensions of Chicanx/Latine identity. My identity as an artist was embedded growing up in a creative/artistic family–who didn’t always feel like they themselves were artist in their own right.
My mediums have included textiles, clay, glass beads, but I primarily work with acrylic on wood or canvas. My art and paintings are part of my own personal healing journey, and journey of continued self-discovery. You’ll see connections to intersectional identity around indigeneity, chicanismo, mujerismo, cultural roots, wisdom, sacred medicine, connections to the land, and family history.
It’s not uncommon that I when I start a sketch or painting, I’ll get asked “who is that?” or “what is this piece called?”; and my answer be, “they haven’t told me yet”. My paintings often portray mujeres that aren’t always depictions of specific people, but rather I allow the piece to take on its own identity–uncovering homages of faces and imagery that the viewer can connect to their own family or loved ones. My biggest muse(s) that carries me and my work, are the matriarchs in my family and community.
While sitting with an elder/healer once, she shared with me the importance of stepping into our strengths and purpose–not only as we paving our path and that for generations to come. But we are also healing ourselves, and in doing so also healing the souls of those who came before us. I hope that my work, whether a handmade textile/clay product or visual art piece, brings that sense of love, healing, good intentions, and empowerment to those who receive it.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Our creative process can at times also lead to long periods of isolation. As an introvert, those recharge moments are needed. But if we’re wanting to grow with and/or alongside community, it’s important to build relationships and stay connected to others within/supporting the art sector. One of the rewarding parts of this work has been being able to step into different spaces and build relationships with other amazingly talented creatives and organizers in the community.
It’s inspiring to learn about other artist’s story of resilience, and how we’ve each learned to navigate/overcome obstacles along the way. When we feel the inspirational block, it’s reassuring to know that we all experience that at one point or another, and each have different methods to recenter ourselves. At the end of the day we’re all human, and it’s ok to take a step back and refocus. As an artist, it’s also great when you can learn about other mediums, environments, and learn about how they’re connecting to the messaging in their work. From a business owner standpoint, we’re typically running as a solo team for all business operations. It’s empowering to meet folks who are open and willing to share their best practices when it comes to their business plan, or connect you to opportunities and resources to strengthen your toolbelt as an artist and entrepreneur. Some of these may include resources on artists calls, grant opportunities, small business workshop groups, information on financial advisors that work with independent artists, and so on. What’s event more heartfelt, is when opportunities come because one of those relationships recommended you in spaces you otherwise may have not been a part of. This speaks volumes when it comes to how far mutual understanding, and respecting each other’s story and authenticity can carry our work in community.
Community event organizers have a tremendous impact on how we showcase our work. How organizers curate these events (whether a gallery show, or pop-up market), is important. Several organizers are artists themselves–so you can definitely see the difference when there’s respect and intentionality put into how these events are brought, and ultimately shape community. Working pop-up markets is very time consuming and can be difficult with scheduling, fees, and travel. But having worked them has been beneficial with solidifying how accessible I want my work to be for all walks of life, and who I choose to share my work with. These events are great spaces to network with other creatives and have that personal interaction with event attendees. They can also be seen as places where we can compile observational qualitative data on how different audiences receive/connect with your work. For example, I would prioritize working a Chicanx/Latinx focused conference, where not only do attendees understand the vision, but have shared very personal stories on their own connection to the work/pieces being presented. On the other hand, I will most likely skip on the event where several folks said my concha earrings looked like interesting volleyballs. But have also accepted the challenge on making sure that the backstory of my work is clear and true to my vision and identity.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve had several moments in my life where I’ve had to pivot and ultimately trust the unknown road ahead. Growing up in a Mexican household as the youngest in the family, I definitely felt an immense amount of pressure to be the first in the family to graduate and eventually become self-sufficient. My parents had hopes of me achieving the quintessential careers of “guaranteed success” (i.e., doctor, lawyer, etc.) So it was challenging for them to see that I was thinking about carrying my high school theatre passion, as potentially part of my undergraduate journey. It became a surprise to them, and even myself that as a Chicana and member of MEChA, I felt my purpose be more in line with community building and supporting youth navigate higher education. Two months before graduating, I had been accepted to grad school, had my dream internship lined up, was selected top in my department, and had all the intentions of laying roots in Bellingham, Washington. When I was told that the two classes I either dropped/failed as a Freshman meant I wasn’t actually going to receive my diploma–but they would still allow me to walk. Within a week of graduating, I had to drop out of grad school and move back home–where it would take me a year to not only complete the missing work but also overcome a very deep depression. Many of the pieces I have in my collection started from this dark transitional period.
Once I was able to get my diploma, the job hunt was not easy to navigate after having built a community in a whole other part of the state. Fortunately, I got a call back for one of the applications I had submitted that I wasn’t qualified to be in a counselor position, but they were piloting an AmeriCorps program that would help me build my experience and connect back into the education system. This experience allowed me to be in community with other service members from across Western Washington, whom I still have so much love and respect for to this day. It also made me see that in terms of the educational system, I wanted to be a part of the systemic changes to support our educators and families. So I applied to grad school again.
Grad school allowed me to see the work I had done in community, educational institutions, and non-profits from a deeper perspective. It also allowed me to build relationship with folks who were working in/towards uplifting community from different roles/viewpoints. At one point I thought I would stay and push through a PhD, but family losses and life changes pointed to just finishing my M.Ed. Which then led to another difficult journey in the job hunt–as many higher education institutions tend to hire within the institution before opening it up to the public. By the time I would get interviews, my imposter syndrome and lack of self-confidence pulled me back from showcasing my work/worth.
Through the network that I had built in AmeriCorps, I was recommended to apply for a youth employment specialist position with the City of Seattle. After a phone interview, I was invited to an in-person interview–which resulted in an on-site job offer. Although outside of my work focused on education, working as a public servant allowed me to understand how governmental agencies shifted programming to meet not just program goals, but policy needs. My experience having worked in education, allowed me to have a deeper connection to youth as they chose which internship experiences they wanted to have. It also allowed me to see the cross connection between educational institutions, non-profit agencies, and federal/local agencies and funding. There were beautiful connections made with youth and families–but working for the city had its challenges. When my mother passed away, I felt it was more than an opportune time to shift roads again.
This ultimately led me to my story with becoming an independent full-time working artist for a few years. As meaningful it is to work for yourself, it also is difficult because you’re always working. Sometimes funds covered the necessary things, but money was usually tight–so you have to add on several gigs or part-time work. This also meant I pushed myself to travel to different events, supported facilitation work in different organizations, and started building relationships with folks in the creative community. When one night I get a message that I should apply for a Judicial Assistant position–given my research experience in grad school, and administrative work I had accumulated in the different roles I’d held as a public servant and community organizer. And so began my journey working in the legal field, supporting a newly elected Chicana judge establish her chambers and overall team. This experience helped me gain a deep respect and understanding of the legal process, and what it looks like when deep dedication is put in decisions because of the impacts it has to the community and people of the State. It also gave me a deep dive in being able to understand different legal processes, and areas of study like contract law, and other cases I would not likely have seen in my life. The Covid-19 pandemic created challenges of their own, as they did for the rest of the world. These challenges forced all agencies and organizations to pivot and change how they service their community. And so came a phone call about an organization in Tacoma.
At this point in time, I had just bought my home in Tacoma, and had all the intentions of setting aside some of the artwork to potentially pursue a paralegal degree. My name had been presented by folks I had known in both high school and undergrad.
The phone call–which I had thought would be about coordinating an art show–ended up being a phone interview for a new position to oversee an Arts & Culture program. When I brought it up to my judge, who was aware and supportive of my artistic work–we both saw this as an opportunity that combined all the branches of experiences I had gained in my overall journey.
I am currently stepping into my third year as the Director of Arts & Culture at Mi Centro, whose mission is to cultivate the advancement of the Latino and Indigenous communities by providing social services and educational programming while honoring our heritage and culture through the arts. One of my goals in this role is to create accessible community programming and cultural experiences that uplifts, reflects, and empowers our Latine community. Also, finding ways as an organization to create and strengthen relationships with creatives and art serving organizations, so that we as an organization can support the growth and reach of artists/creatives in our community. Through all of this, in each role I was fortunate to still maintain a connection to my artistic work in various forms–which also grew and shifted along the way as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mariglvn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariglvn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariGlvn/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maribelgalvan/
