Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Garcia.
Hi Margaret, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
An avid painter, I began my art career as a muralist and was chosen to participate in the 1984 LA Olympics public art program. I’m a teacher and a mentor to many young artists, I studied at California State University, Northridge, Los Angeles City College, and the Graduate Fine Arts Program at University of Southern California.
My paintings provide a look into my community through the reflection of the individuals. Although my portraits are not overtly political, over time I have come to realize that their very specificity belies the stereotypes given to any culture by the media.
In addition to portraying my community, my long running “Views from the Pueblo” series captures street scenes and landscapes depicting my Los Angeles neighborhoods of Echo Park, Boyle Heights and Highland Park. I have exhibited in group shows throughout the United States, Mexico and in Europe. In 2022 and 2023, I was featured in solo exhibitions at the Museum of Ventura County and at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles. In August 2025, I open a solo exhibition at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA. Visit www.margaretgarciastudio.com
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Good question. My desire is to mimic life by making marks that create a portrait of another. These are moments where I spend time looking into the eyes of another. Indoctrinated by media – the Lone Ranger and Tonto – to believe in the American Dream, I was led to believe that the enemy looked like me. Yet I was invisible.
Conceived out of wedlock to an undocumented mother, my first breath was a criminal act. My father, born in the United States to an American mother, was deported for being Mexican. My family lived this. My Apache/Yaqui and Tarahumara heritage was not written in English in the record books.
My work says what the first cave paintings said, a declaration of existence, resilience and resistance. True empowerment is authenticity and the ability to define who I am, not as a cartoon, but as a human being. It is easier to kill a cartoon than kill a human being.
The struggle of survival, generational trauma, and sacrifices made to improve life for the next generation motivated me to design economic strategies that create community. Using Art, STEAM, knowledge of regenerative practices and, engaging in collaborative processes that help me mentor as well as throw down the gauntlet in mono-printing, toy making, painting, glass work and cultivating venues that support other artists.
My work inspired the Rhizomes project https://rhizomes.umn.edu/ and my art contributed to the Fire Relief Fund, http://lacmaonfire.blogspot.com/2025/01/la-fire-relief-fund.html
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I began my career as a muralist, involved in the murals that celebrated the 1984 Olympics. Identified as one of 24 women artists who have had an impact on Los Angels art, my work consists of oil paintings and pastels saturated with an expressive palette; flat compositional space firmly rooted in the tradition of Mexican Folk art.
My paintings are in the collections of: the Cheech; LACMA; the Laguna Art Museum; Blanton Museum (University of Texas, Austin); University of Texas San Antonio, Universities of California Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Irvine (Buck Collection); California State University Northridge and Notre Dame University, among others.
I am currently exhibiting at several Museums: The Cheech Center for Chicano Art and Culture (Riverside, CA); ESMoA (Experimentally Structured Museum of Art (Lawndale, CA); The Blanton Museum (University of Texas); the Vincent Price Art Museum (Los Angeles, CA) shown at the Dorothy Chandler Founder’s Room at the Music Center, Los Angeles; and the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (in conjunction with LACMA). My Solo Show at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center (Fullerton, CA) opens June 20, 2025.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’ve heard from a wise person – “Luck is opportunity meets preparedness”
All my life, as they say, I’ve showed up and suited up”.
Cliches and cute sayings aside, I’ve put in the work. I’ve supported myself and my child as a single mom and a working artist. it is a good thing that, in my younger days, i could paint 6 or 7 paintings a day.
Friendships have played an outsized role in my life. I’ve believed and still do that when you give, something comes back to you. in the early days when we didn’t have a gallery offering us a show, we’d create one for ourselves.
i try to say yes. I mentor younger artists. I host weekly oil painting workshops in my studio. I support other artists by showing up at their openings. I recommend younger artists to curators and galleries. I keep my word. I am blessed to have a “posse” of artists with whom i work and show with regularly.
Pricing:
- 3. Jonah Elijah. $4,000. Oil on Wood Panel, w 24 x h 24 in. 2024
- 4. Shizu Saldamando. $4,000. Oil on Wood Panel, w 24 x h 24 in. 2002
- 5. Enchanted Echo Park. $25,000. Oil on Wood Panel. w 60 x h 48 in. 2024
- 6. Fire in the Night. $8,000. Pastel. w 41.5 x h 33.5 (framed). 2019
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Margaretgarciastudio.com
- Instagram: @margaretgarciastudio
- Facebook: #margaret Garcia studio
