Meet Maria Dominguez-morales

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Dominguez-morales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Maria Dominguez is an accomplished and well exhibited artists in the NYC Puerto Rican community she is well known for her murals. She started painting murals in the 1980s as a young woman growing up in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. At the time NYC was in a drug and housing crisis. The residents living there, faced “the crack epidemic,” poverty, subhuman housing conditions, all while the onslaught of gentrification loomed over them. As Dominguez witnessed the growing deterioration of her once thriving and beloved community, together with artists, activists, housing, and cultural organizations they protested gentrification and joined the “Nuyorican Arts Movement” who through the arts worked together to make social change and beautified their environment. This created a community dialogue amongst themselves and politicians, all together helped build community and make history.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Maria Dominguez found a creative way of community building by using her art trainings in mural making. Her activism was born in 1981 while she was a student at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC. As The Nuyorican Movement was changing literary history throughout the opportunity to make a difference presented itself – so she joined artists, other activists, grassroots organizations and they used their Puerto Rican arts and culture as a celebration of life and to promote a positive presence in their community.
This trajectory in mural/public art making led to her commission by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City with a permanent glass installation “El –Views” in 2002, displayed at the Chauncey Street station along the J line in Brooklyn, New York. In April of 2023, on the 23rd anniversary of “El Views,” the 16 original paintings of these dazzling glass works were acquired by the Museum of the City of New York for their permanent collection and for the public to enjoy in future exhibitions/educational programming.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1) Community Organizer
2) Artist /Mural Making
3) Museum Educator

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

In 2024 the LM Development partners and Acacia had just completed a transformative new development that would bring together affordable housing, community services, and a dynamic public space they named it Sendero Verde and is located at 60 E 112th Street NYC in the heart of East Harlem, the partners commissioned two murals by two dynamic and established artists. The primary mural was done by Maria Dominguez sized 46’ Long X 22’ located on Park Avenue side. The development team envisioned a public art program that would capture and celebrate the vibrancy and culture of East Harlem today while simultaneously recognizing and acknowledging the social and ecological history of the site.

This mural opportunity was a high honor for Dominguez, however, it called for the use of methods and materials never used before. The enormous size of the mural would wrap around the building and this all posed a challenge to 74 year old Dominguez. With confidence and strong determination she accepted the commission and after one year in the making one can view Dominguez’ vision in her mural. Her :Sendero Verde” mural is layered all the past people’s history where she used plants and herbs to symbolize their cultures – the opportunity for story telling from pre-Manhatta to the present by her use of symbolism and imagery created a vibrate and colorful mural.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mariadominguez
• Instagram: mariadominguez991
• Facebook: Maria.dominguez.9484
• Linkedin: Dominguez-17a51712/
• Twitter: https://X.com/artedominguez

Image Credits

1. Sendero Verde Mural – 2024 Acrylic 22’X46′ (front Detail)
2. Sendero Verde Mural – 2024 Acrylic 22’X46′ (Side Detail)
3. Sendero Verde Mural – 2024. Acrylic 22″X46′ (Side)
4. Reclaim Mural 2021 Acrylic on canvas, 8′ x 9′
5. Yo Misma fui mi Ruta Mural – 2016 Acrylic on Wood 8ft X 17′