Vitae
of Mario Torero
My work is comprised of the coordination and production of Fine Art
through Murals and Sculptures within the community of San Diego, Tijuana
and Los
Angeles as well as globally. My body of work consists of socially motivated
public artworks that have evolved into a master plan concept that
continues to march on to the tune of humanity’s dream.
Present:
Cultural Arts Ambassador for the House of Peru
Peace Paint Ambassador for
the Art Miles
Mural Project (A UNESCO Collaboration)
Director of the Chicano Park School of Art/Grupo FUERZA
Arts Coordinator for King Chavez Academy of Excellence Charter School
Arts Consultant for Barrio Logan Teen Center AIDS Prevention Program
Cultural Arts Coordinator for the Bronze Triangle Redevelopment
Corporation
Arts Consultant for Diamond Project, Jacobs Foundation/Sehlman
La Barre Architect
Arts Consultant in collaboration with El Averno Cultural Center,
Lima Peru
- developing the Quilca Arts District with the Municipality of Lima
Founder:
2002 - Chicano Park School of Art (CPSA)
2001 - Pilgrimage to Machu Picchu (PMP) Muralization Project, Perú
2000 - Co -Founder, FUERZA
1994 - Co-Founder, World Beat Center
1988 - 1993 Founding Board Member of the San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture
1978 - Community Arts Center
1970
- The Centro Cultural de la Raza
1970 - Chicano Park Open-Air Museum (designated a Historic Site in 1980 by the City of San Diego,
eligible for listing on the
National
Register)
Recent
Arts Commissions:
2003 Eyes of Picasso replica of original mural. Private
collector.
2002 King Mural/Arts Corridor, Bronze Triangle Redevelopment
2000 La Maguey, 12 ft diameter metal/ceramic sculpture,
Chula Vista Scripps Hospital
1998 Voladores, two
12 ft diameter stone cast sculptures, San Diego Int'l Airport
1997 The Arrow, 20 ft metal sculpture for InSITE ’97
at Chicano Park
1996 Save Barrio Logan, 4X5 ft painting design for
the Environmental Health Coalition.
1995 Somos One (Human) Race, LA mural for SPARC Mural
Program
1994 Mil Sonrisas, 3X2 ft painting for Children’s
Museum of Costa Rica
Recent
Grants:
2004
Banner competition for the San Diego International Airport
2002 Barrio Logan Teen Health Center, Artist in Residence
2001 CA Arts Council, Artist in Residence
1999 – 2001, CAC Multicultural Entry Program
1999 – 2000, San Diego Foundation
1998 – 1999, San Diego Foundation for Social Change
1997 Installation Gallery, InSITE‘97
Awards:
2004 Southern CA Regional Juried Award, Second place, Honorable
Mention - view video
2003 Keep on
Crossin' Award,
First Annual Keep on Crossin' Awards
2002 Cesar Chavez Parkway’s Concept Artist, City of San Diego
2000 NEA Millennium Project, National Community Artists Catalogue
Special Collections:
1980 – The Child, 4 x 4 acrylic on canvas. The
Vatican Collection
Video:
2004 - Torero featured on the PBS Series "Visiones"
2003 - Mural: We are Not a Minority featured in the Black Eyed Peas
Video Where
is the Love
Publications:
2005 Expresate Level III (educational) publisher:
Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
2003 HRW Spanish Level III, Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Publishers
2003 At Work: The Art of California Labor Exhibit,
companion catalog, Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA
2002 Just Another Poster?/Solo UN Cartel Mas?: Chicano Graphic
Arts in California/Artes Graficas Chicanas
En California", U C Regents.
2002 “Contemporary
Chicana and Chicano Art”, Bilingual Press/Smithsonian Institute
2000 Barrio Logos, Raul Homero Villa, University of
Texas Press
1998 450 Years of American Painting, Dustin Publications
1997 Painting the Town/Murals of California, RJD Enterprises
1994 Race, Sex & Gender, Edward Lucie-Smith, Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers
1992 Mexican American Heritage, Carlos M. Jimenez,
TQS Publications
1991 CARA, Chicano Art Resistance & Affirmation,
UCLA
Recent
Exhibits/Projects:
2004 December Cannon Gallery Bienal, four person show.
2004 January, Cannon Gallery, Carlsbad, Winter Group Show.
2004 October 30, The MGITCH Political
Art Show, UNO Gallery, Los Angeles
2004 October 9
(one day show), The MGITCH Political
Art Show, New College of California, San Francisco
2004 August, MGITCH Political Art Show, Limbo Fine Arts, San Diego,
CA
2004 Eyes of San Diego Mural Project with COVA,
SDVAN, SanDiegoArtist.com, Inspire!
San Diego Art Kidz.
2004
Chicano
Now/Chicano Visions Mural Project/Performance at Exhibit Opening,
MCA, San Diego/La Jolla.
2003 Casa de las Americas Art Exhibit featuring the works of Torero,
Guillermo Acevedo (Torero's father)
and
others, through the House
of Perú & House of México.
2003 COVA
Open Studios Tour
2003 Che Y Que, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles
2003 ARTESCAPE 7: A Celebration of Progressive Arts, World Beat
Center, San Diego
2002 Group Therapy III, Garage Gallery, Downtown San Diego
2002 El Averno, Voz Alta, Downtown San Diego
2002 SD ‘80, Flux Gallery, Downtown San Diego
2002 Pilgrimage to Macchu Pichu II, Garage Gallery, Downtown San Diego
2002 Pilgrimage to Macchu Pichu I, La Noche En Lima Gallery, Lima Peru
2001 Endangered Spaces, San Diego Art Institute, second prize award
2001 – 2002 Made in California, LA Museum of Contemporary Art
2001 The Anti-Lead Show, San Diego ArtWalk 2001
2000 – 2003 Just Another Poster, University Art Museum of Austin,
TX traveling show
1998 Homage to Picasso, Marie Trichet Art Gallery, Litherfield, CT
1997 Che Guevara, Icon, Myth & Legend, UCLA Fowler Museum
1996 GOP, Graficas Obras de Protesta, Centro Cultural de la Raza
1995 The Dead Show, Huntington Beach Art Center
Most
Recent Murals:
2004 July, Ojos del Mundo en Barcelona, mural in
the Gotico
District
2004 April/May, Muralization of Jiron Quilca continues, various
murals along the street. Lima, Perú
2003 August, Art
Miles Mural Project,
Latino Coordinator and contributor
2003 January, Muralization of Jiron Quilca, Lima,
Perú
2002 October, No
Apartheid; Wall of Justice, 8
X 150 ft, Bronze Triangle Project
2002 February, A
Day in the Life of Perú,
15 X 25 ft, Averno Center, Lima, Perú
2001 March 31, King/Chavez
Mural, 18 X 20 ft, at King/Chavez School, Chicano Park
2000 August, Sherman Unidos, 15 X 45 ft, mural renovation
1999 – 2000, The
Elders Mural, 7 X 35 ft, Paradise Seniors Center, Chicano
Park
1999 January, Que Viva Chiapas, 7 X 20 ft, 3D mural-float,
2nd Prize, King Parade.
1997 April 21, Save Chicano Park, 10 X 150 ft, Chicano
Park
1996 November, Save Barrio Logan, 300 sq. ft pillar,
Chicano Park
1996 February, No Retrofitting, 8 X 25 ft pillar, Chicano
Park
1995 Restoration of 1978 Mural, We
Are Not a Minority Estrada Courts,
E. Los Angeles
1995 – 1996, What Time is It? 50 X 10 ft, San
Diego High School
1995 April, Laura, pillar at Chicano Park, assisted
by Carmen Kalo
1994 – 1995, Somos One (Human) Race, 25 X 60
ft, LA (Spark)
1994 No to Violence! 300 ft, Wilson Middle School
1994 Children of the World, 10 X 25 ft, Peace University,
Costa Rica
1994 June Working Together, 15 X 40 ft, San Diego Health
Department
1993 August Lift the Blockade on Cuba! SD, LA, SF,
Seattle, Vancouver action tour.
1993 July Si Se Puede, Quebrar el Blokeo! 10 X 28 ft,
M L King Center, Havana, Cuba
1993 May, Of the Human Rights Heroes, 10 X 60 ft, Che
Café, UCSD
1992 January, The
Eyes of Picasso, 20 X 30, ReIncarnation Project,
San Diego
1991 Summer, Kafka” & “Tribute to John Lennon, murals
in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Most
Recent Articles:
2004 May, La
mirada del chicano, El Comercio,
Lima, Perú - Sábado
2004 May, Maestros
del Muralismo (no online source)
Critica, Lima, Perú
2004 May, Maestros del muralismo
expresan su arte en este Jiron (no online
source)
El Vocero, Lima,
Perú
2004 Feb, Tears
of Picasso San Diego Home/Garden Magazine, February, 2004
2003
Dec,
ReinCarnation building set to quietly fade away
Preston Turegano, San
Diego Union
Tribune
2003 Dec,
Artist cries foul
over whitewash of 'Eyes' mural
Diane Bell, San Diego Union Tribune
2003 Sept,
In
a land of freedom, it's good to take a stand
David L. Coddon, The San Diego
Union
Tribune
2003 April 3, "Developer
has a different view of future of ReinCarnation" San
Diego Union-Tribune
2003 March 29, "Cesar Chavez
celebration starts early..." San
Diego-Union Tribune
2003 February 20, "Artist eying a new home
for mural," San Diego Union
Tribune
2003 February, March "Artist
of the People," Latino Builders Mag. (print), Cadavoz (electronic)
2002 November 16, “Brush
with Greatness,” San Diego Union Tribune
2002 July 7, “Pinceles Callejeros,” Ojo, Lima, Peru
2002 June 11, “Color
Chicano,” Caretas (pg 79), Lima, Peru
2002 June 9, “Paredes Vetadas,” La Republica, Lima, Peru
2002 May 19, “La Fuerza de la Raza,” El Comercio, Lima
Peru
2002 April 20, “…anniversary
at Chicano Park,” San Diego Union Tribune
2002 April 6, “Cesar Chavez Parkway,” San Diego Union
Tribune
2002 March 22, “…way to Peru” La Prensa de San
Diego
2002 March 1, “Chicano Artist Left Out,” La Prensa de
San Diego
2001 May 3, “Arts Abound” San Diego Downtown News
2001 February, “Poster Flexes Political Muscle,” LA Times
2001 February 16, “Viaje por la Paz,” San Diego Union
Tribune
Education:
1969 – 71 San Diego State University
1965 – 69 San Diego City Planning Department, Civil Engineering
1965 – 68 San Diego Skills Center, Mechanical Drafting
1964 – 67 San Diego City College
1965 – 67 San Diego Museum of Art
