Photos by Sarah Overbeck
June 4th is First Friday in Carbondale and it will be filled with art for everyone. Carbondale Arts presents a new exhibition curated by Gayle Embrey and Vanessa Porras at R2 Gallery called “Identidad y Libertad,” on display June 4th through 25th. In addition, the talented mural artist Armando Silva will be revealing a new community mural on the side of the Stepping Stones building (1154 CO-133) at 4 pm on First Friday as an extension of the exhibition.
Armando worked with the Stepping Stones students to create the mural. Their inspirational prompt was answering the question, “what does home mean to you?”
About the Artist
Armando was born in Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico. At age 5, his family moved to Northern Colorado to pursue the American Dream. Armando submerged himself into the visual and performing arts as a way to communicate and find his identity as an ESL student. After developing his talents throughout high school, he decided to invest in them and earned a BA in Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting from The University of Northern Colorado.
Armando believes his artistic superpowers come with the responsibility to lead, educate, and give back to the community. His artistic practice focuses on compelling portraits that tell personal stories, sometimes created on canvases in his studio, or other times created through live performance in front of thousands. Armando's large-scale mural installations give communities a sense of representation, pride and access to the arts in a way that is authentic and unique to the locality.