About

Hola, soy Alicia María

I am an anthropologist by profession, and in art and painting I found a way to commune with the world around me. My paintings speak of spiritual renewal, with clean, vivid lines and bright, cheerful colors; my contemporary touches come from Neo-Cubism and Pop Art. I paint to celebrate the simple and beautiful things in life.

AQUA, one of my signature pieces, has represented my homeland, Colombia, several times in museums and galleries in Colombia and the United States, including New York in 2013 and the Miami Beach Sister Cities event in 2012. My work has traveled to exhibitions in Monaco, Belgium, France, China, Colombia, Peru and the United States, and in 2014 to the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.

I believe art should reach those who need it most. After the 2016 earthquake I organized "Un Solo Corazón Pintando por Ecuador", and I have worked with the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation and other non-profits.

In 2017 the City of North Miami honored me as its artist of Hispanic Heritage Month. In May 2018 I made my first public art: a painted Venetian mooring post for "Venice in the Gables" in Coral Gables. That November I painted my first mural, "Forest of Joy", for Hazel Fazzino Park, and in May 2019 "The Forest of Dreams" and "Butterfly" came to life at the North Miami Beach Library. Painting murals was a lifelong dream, and a victory over my fear of heights.

Teaching is my true passion. I teach children and seniors in schools, libraries and community centers, because art education helps shape better human beings. In 2020, with the children of the library's after-school program, I started what is now Connecting and Painting Community: neighbors creating public art together. In 2021 the City of North Miami Beach named me an NMB Sheroe.

In 2022 I directed Tawala Wayuu Fest in Bogotá, where Wayuu women covered more than thirty trees of Parque 93 with their weavings: a dream come true for me as an anthropologist. Back in North Miami Beach, we have crocheted palm trees (2024), a sky of Dancing Umbrellas (2025) and a car for breast cancer awareness (2026).

Every project reminds me why I do this: art unites us, heals us and makes the places we share more beautiful.

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