Daily Inspiration: Meet Blanca Carla Arriaga

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blanca Carla Arriaga.

Hi Blanca, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. 
I am and continue to be a creative human being. My artistic journey has always been rooted in my desire to be happy, take space, and give back to my community. For many years, my focus was performing arts. I did choir and band in high school, embraced the musician in me throughout community college, and explored different cultural music ensembles at university. I was basically setting myself up to hit the music world either as a performer or a professor. However, the pandemic through the biggest wrench in my plans, as it has in many other folks, and I found myself pivoting, interestingly enough, to the world of visual arts. Hobbies like journaling and crafting became passions I began to explore them further. The ball really began rolling when I discovered the radical world of zines. I’ve been making zines for two years now and that has opened up a world of awesomeness and opportunities that I would have never imagined would be on my bingo card! I started selling my art stickers and illustrations, and zines-at pop up and vending events. People resonated! And I found friends and community folks who cheer me on! Now, I find myself facilitating workshops; I started my own zine club that takes place at an El Gallo Giro restaurant in my community. I have zines circulating in the Los Angeles Public Library. It’s honestly just a continuous rolling ball of opportunities that I am embracing. Despite being knee deep in visual arts, I still get to engage in musicking by volunteering at a summer rock camp hosted by CRSELA, I get invited play in the pep band at basketball games at UCLA. I even do my own songwriting and music-making. All this has been rooted in those pillars, and I’ve come to realize that one truly doesn’t know what the future has in store. If a door closes, a window opens. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing is ever a smooth road. When I began pivoting my “career,” I felt massive imposter syndrome! I saw friends going to grad school and getting positions at amazing institutions, and here I was, making a paper giraffe for an after-school program. It sometimes made me wonder if I wasted my time. Being a first-generation Latina, the first to graduate from their family with a bachelor’s, there’s a lot of pressure to be successful and have it all figured out and do more because, well, my parents sacrificed so much for me to be here. Even now, sure I work at an art institution, but it’s only part time. I pick up vending events to make extra cash for laundry, for food. I’m not quite the “starving artist,” but I’m also here, like many others, making ends meet and figuring the adulting life out. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am most known these days as a zine maker! I make zines, facilitate zine-making workshops, and host my own zine club. Some folks know me as the percussionist who did marching band, marched the Rose Parade, played congas and timbales. Others know me as a journaler, photographer, illustrator, editor, songwriter, etc. It is very fitting that my artist moniker is “Blancis the Creative” because that’s who I am! I am a jack of all trades, master of none, so why wouldn’t I be? I feel like the more I explore, the more tools I have in my belt to inspire me and my work. I also love community building, so as I learn different art mediums and styles, I get to meet other folks and expand my communities. I do my best to just show up as me and that translates into my artwork. 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risks are worth taking because they can either 1) lead to incredible things or 2) teach you lesson, or even 3) validate your gut feelings. I’m a big fan of encouraging my friends to take risks, but I’m so terrible at listening to my own advice. I think one of the biggest risks I took was leaving a job I knew I could climb the ladder so quickly for another job that I may not even be qualified for. I got the job(woo), but it was only after I told myself well, if I were the bestie, what would I tell them to do? Ultimately, I left the security of something I knew how to do for something I had very little experience, but you’ll be surprised how many people out there are willing to give you a shot. You take the risk, you shoot your shot, and you go from there. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/blancisthecreative
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blancisthecreative
• Other: https://blancis.bandcamp.com/