Mural Fest Artist - Justin Suarez

Q&A with Justin Suarez - Make It Your Own Mural Fest Artist

Steuben County | Angola

• Artist | Justin Suarez
• Hometown | Rochester, NY
• Mural Location | 900 N. Wayne St., Angola, IN 46703

1. Why is public art important to a community’s quality of life?

Murals change the urban landscape and bring life and color to otherwise dull surfaces, creating beacons and landmarks throughout an area, encouraging people to get out and explore the place they live in new ways.

2. Why did you apply to install a mural in Northeast Indiana? 

I love traveling and painting murals in new cities and experiencing the places and communities.

3. What is it about installing/painting murals that you enjoy so much?

I love the intimate and unique experience it provides, including interacting with communities and leaving my mark behind, of course!

4. What is it like installing a mural?

I’ve painted so many murals, it’s just like another day on the job at this point!

5. What else would you like Northeast Indiana residents to know about you and your artwork?

My love for painting animals is closely related to the work that I do with birds of prey. You can learn more about that at wildwingsinc.com.

About Justin Suarez

Born on a family farm in upstate New York, Justin Suarez is an artist who brings together the rural and the urban. Celebrating wildlife, he paints flora and fauna flawlessly over concrete and brick. The animals he paints come to life as the viewer is drawn into the world of the painting. With over 18 years of experience, he has painted murals across the US, and his work has been exhibited around the world. Justin Suarez brings the intensity of a raptor to his artistic endeavors, as well as his work as a valued handler of birds of prey at Wild Wings Animal Sanctuary outside Rochester, NY, he is able to capture the majesty of the natural world through his explosive graphics and remarkable technique. He also works well with humans, with a rich history of collaborating with other artists on a vast array of murals. He is responsible, punctual, a master of logistics and a born team player.

In the fall of 2015, Suarez co-founded Roc Paint Division, the City of Rochester’s Youth Mural Arts Program.” Roc Paint is just that and yet so much more. Under the leadership of local artists, Justin Suarez, Lisa Barker and Sarah Rutherford, Roc Paint Division’s mission was to beautify the city’s R-Centers through mural arts while providing employment and training opportunities to young developing artists. What developed through the initial 13-week pilot program in 2016 was nothing short of phenomenal. A team of seven youth-created murals at 6 of the City’s R-Centers. The murals were unified by their common theme of growth, chosen in part to acknowledge the major role that the R-Centers play in the lives of the young people who spend time there during their formative years. The project not only provided the seven youth with work experience, but it also resulted in breath-taking artistic depictions of youth, energy and hope that glow like beacons from the corners of the community that they shine from. Read more about Justin Suarez on his website.

See Justin Suarez's previous work below!