We recently connected with Marisa Avelar and have shared our conversation below.
Marisa, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
One of the most meaningful projects to me was getting to design an outside banner for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Museum in Lower Manhattan’s annual Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead event that offers a community ofrenda, live performances, lectures, craft making and family activities. This project meant a lot to me personally because I never dreamed I would get to do design work for the exterior of a very special cultural institution like the Smithsonian in New York City educating visitors, tourists and New Yorkers about my Mexican culture. I have always been very proud of my roots and cultural identity, and love educating people about beautiful, unique traditions like Día de los Muertos. I also loved participating in the community ofrenda with a photo and memory of my Tía Sonia who had recently passed. It was very meaningful to have her photo there and let her presence and memory be a part of the event, which is something I look forward to every year because of so many great activities and performances. I also love celebrating my Indigenous roots since I am a mix of Indigenous and Spanish; when I worked at the American Indian museum I really learned a lot and was impressed with the expanse of different cultures and tribal nations that we celebrated and educated the public about.
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’m Marisa Avelar, a graphic designer, painter, and mixed media artist based in Brooklyn, NY. I was born and raised in Houston, TX and spent 4 years in the Savannah, GA area where I received my B.F.A. in Art with an emphasis in graphic design and painting from Georgia Southern University. I have always been a lover of the arts and music, as well as a sketcher since I was little (my dad was my first sitting model). As I got older and went to college I really started to focus my interest in painting as well as graphic design. I originally wanted to major in political science but realized as I took more fine arts classes where my real calling was. There was nothing I worked harder at than art, and I also felt it was an area where I was really able to touch and move people with my craft. There were two important mentors in college, who have since passed. They gave me my life’s work and I like to think they are still guiding me today: Patricia Walker and Peter Smith who were my painting and graphic design professors at GSU. Their offices used to be right next to each other. I have also been fortunate enough throughout my career as a designer to have key people who believed in me by either giving me a chance, taking the time to mentor me or help me along the way. Through the lessons they taught me – along with a lot of hard work, discipline, passion and persistence – I have been able to have a rewarding career as a graphic designer and artist.
I am currently a Senior Graphic Designer for the New York Campaign Finance Board, an independent agency of the City of New York that administers one of the strongest, most effective campaign finance systems in the country and helps ensure that local elections are fair, inclusive and open. They have many amazing initiatives like NYC Votes (that I work primarily on) that strive to educate New Yorkers on why their vote matters with a focus on underrepresented communities that face barriers to civic engagement. Our well recognized and admired NYC Votes brand was originally designed by the New York team for Pentagram and really captures the energy, spirit and vibrancy of New York and its voters, so I truly enjoy working with it. For someone who was raised a news junkie and is very aware of politics, working for the Campaign Finance Board has been a real best of both worlds for me and I have gotten quite an education on being a civil servant. I really appreciate having that spirit of service, and using my creativity and talent to try to engage voters and make a difference in peoples’ lives in a noble, nonpartisan way. Getting people to vote and voting is a cause every American can agree on and should be passionate about. I have had experience working in the corporate sector in advertising and very rewarding experiences working for cultural institutions like the Smithsonian and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston but this experience at the Campaign Finance Board has been one of the most unique and meaningful because I know every day, our focus is on the underserved and most overlooked communities. I really feel I am making a difference, whether I’m designing and translating informative materials in 13 languages to overcome language barriers and reach immigrant communities, or getting the youth vote out through fun, informative and engaging designs. It’s not every job where you get to make a difference through design. Democracy is really under attack and starting to crumble in some places around the world, and here at home and we have to work hard to remove any barriers to having our voices heard and be educated about our power and rights as citizens.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part of being an artist or creative is that you seek beauty in the world and try share that sense of magic, beauty and wonder with others. You can also serve as a mirror for the good or bad in life with your work. If you are really successful, your work touches someone or speaks to someone. Sometimes we can get disillusioned, maybe some aspects of life can be pretty bland, and we can provide a vision of something better or a way to see things differently. I love musical theater and Stephen Sondheim so the idea of “Look, I made a hat…Where there never was a hat” from “Sunday in the Park from George” encapsulates the simple joy of creating that I have been fascinated with and excited by since I was a kid. There is also a lot of creative problem solving and having a vision of something that very often no one else can see or imagine. To make an idea a reality is an exciting endeavor. The journey to creating something is also a learning lesson. Each time you try you might not reach perfection but you get better each time.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Not many people understand or realize what goes into being a creative: imagination, inspiration, and creative problem solving. With the movie Oppenheimer in the news a lot of Einstein’s quotes are going around and I always admired his views on the importance of creativity. He says, “Creativity is intelligence having fun… I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” If we are not able to look beyond what is in front of us, we can’t become successful as artists or designers. It takes an immense amount of problem solving, having vision, and coming to something with a different point of view. The very job as a designer is to make everything better through good design, so I very much view my work as a service. I find it very rewarding when I can improve upon something that needs good design to help reach people. It also becomes a part of everyday life, and good design impacts people in a fundamental and important way that they often may not realize. That is the democratic part of design that I admire.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://himarisa.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marisaartdesign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellotheremarisa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisa-avelar/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/artistamarisa
- My Graphic Design Portfolio: https://marisaavelar.com/
- Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/YarnDreamsShop
Image Credits
Portrait of Me: Scott Howard