DTPHX Spotlight: Inspired By His Mexican Heritage, Mural Artist Adrian “AWER” Garcia Transforms Grief Into Beauty
“To me being an artist is an amazing thing, but being a community artist is about helping a community find out who they are through art,” says Adrian “AWER” Garcia, a respected mural artist and the Live Art Curator for Family First Friday at the Arizona Center in Downtown Phoenix.
Garcia is a proud Phoenician who feels the desert environment shaped his creative style. Rooted in graffiti art, and full of vibrant colors, intricate textures, and abstract designs, Garcia’s captivating murals adorn Phoenix, making it a more beautiful city. Through his art and community building, Garcia hopes to inspire others to explore their culture, heritage, and creativity.
“When I was young and growing up, there were a lot of things that weren’t accessible to me,” says Garcia. “Especially the Spanish language. As a Mexican person, I didn’t speak Spanish and as I got older I questioned my parents as to why that was. What I found out was when they were growing up, they used to get in trouble [for speaking Spanish]. My parents were holding back certain things, not because they didn’t want to show me, but back then it was hard to show who you are and be proud of that.”
Garcia shares, “It wasn’t until my late 30’s when I really started asking myself what my cultural identity was. My daughter’s mom passed away when our daughter was about eight years old. During this time, I was really in a lost part of my life, figuring out how to be a good father and raise this little girl. I was looking for something to heal me, and I used to see these little Mexican altars. When I started to ask what those were, and what they meant, that really helped me in the beginning stages of my healing.”
As Garcia studied Ofrendas, he saw how his art could connect more to his own traditions. “It was exciting,” says Garcia. “It felt like I could say very proudly that I am Mexican-American. I learned more about colors in the images I was painting. Like colors incorporated in Día de los Muertos mean certain things. White is for purity, purple is for pain, and pink is for celebration.”
“It was very infectious and I was inspiring other people through my art to learn more about my culture and their own.” This journey led to an opportunity at the Arizona Center in 2024, when Garcia was asked to bring people together for a Family First Friday in Downtown Phoenix. Garcia recalls, “I felt like I couldn't compete with Roosevelt Row but we decided to see what we could come up with. We made a Día de los Muertos event—there was live-painting, music, and so many people showed up, it was such a magical night.”
Since then Garcia has continued to work with the Arizona Center, and over the past two years, they have partnered with many local artists and artisans to produce safe, fun, family-friendly and vibrant artistic events—including Downtown Phoenix Inc.'s own Lotería, which Garcia has participated in for several years running. Garcia says, “The Arizona Center has done such an amazing job at being a hub. Since the 1990s it has had ups and downs through the years. Now it’s over 80% occupancy, we have the Farmers Market—everybody that comes says it feels great.”
Garcia says of First Fridays in Downtown Phoenix, “It is the largest one in the nation, and that creates opportunity for all kinds of artists. That’s why when we created Family First Friday— we thought family came first, and nobody else had that. We welcome guests and artists of all ages and points in their career. I measure the success of our events by the more strollers I see, the more kids I see engaging in the art.”
Garcia, along with his teammates Adrian Ramirez and Chroma, also just painted a 5,000 square- foot mural on the western facade of Arizona Center. Featuring hummingbirds in flight over a vivid orange and pink Arizona sunset, this stunning mural is a gem of Downtown. “I never thought me and my crew would have the second largest mural in Downtown Phoenix. This is what I am contributing to my city.”
Garcia shares that over more than thirty years as a working artist in Phoenix, he feels like themes in his life have now come full circle. In addition to sharing his art and heritage with his city, Garcia’s personal journey has been about transforming grief into beauty, feeling more connected to the people he loves, and embracing life.
Garcia says, “Every single year since my daughter’s mom passed, my whole family gets together. As I learned more about Ofrendas and these rituals, it helped them with their healing too.”
“My parents tell me I inspire them to be proud. I’m 50 now and I have grandkids, they are Filipino, Hawaiian and Mexican, and we’re raising them to learn all their languages and cultures.”
Garcia is passionate about nurturing the next generation of artists, offering a variety of art workshops and mural mentorship programs, imparting essential skills and knowledge to aspiring artists.
He also encourages everyone regardless of their background, to learn more about their own ancestors and cultural history. “I learned about my culture. Now I want to know about yours,” says Garcia.
For updates on Adrian “AWER” Garcia’s upcoming murals, events, live art sessions, and workshops, follow him through his social media channels and local art community platform: @adrian_grrcya.
Royal Young (@theroyalyoung on Instagram) is a non-binary poet and author from downtown New York City, who now lives and creates in the desert. Their work has appeared in Interview Magazine, New York Times, The Rumpus, Phoenix Magazine, Phoenix New Times, LOOKOUT, and DTPHX, among others.