This Fresno artist paints murals with kids to ‘build them up’
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Fresno-based artist has been bringing vivid and colorful murals to schools all over the Central Valley, describing her work as one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
Fresno-born artist Andrea Cano Torres has also been involving students in the painting process, giving them lifelong memories and lessons in the process.
Torres says her art has become an outlet as well as a trade, allowing her to provide for her son while showing him and herself it is possible to make a living as an artist.
“My mom was like, what are you doing with your life? You can’t do anything with art,” Torres said. “In retrospect, she’s like, I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you – but I’m so proud.”
Torres’ art draws from her life experiences. Taking inspiration from old Spanish commercials, Mexican soaps, and even her old address, Torres says her art has been therapeutic – but her mural work has been fulfilling in a completely different way.
After earning a double Bachelors at Fresno State, she began teaching at Fresno High where she quickly got involved in the mural club.
“They used to have [a mural club] and I just kind of helped bring it back,” Torres said. “Ever since then it kind of shifted from teaching to teaching art, to painting murals – and I’ve been doing it since 2016.”
For Torres, painting the murals with the children is more than a happy project, it is a responsibility.
“You have a very important, powerful role in their life,” Torres said. “You either build them up or you knock them down.”
Torres says the murals are an opportunity to show local children that they are not limited to their environment and they are capable of great things themselves. She says she’s had a chance to see many of her former students grow up and become artists themselves.
“I think painting on walls is such a like, forbidden thing that when they get to do it and then when it looks good, it’s like they get they’re just so proud of themselves.”
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