The Latino Professionals Association Celebrates Yo Soy: Painting a Latin Presence
Rodrigo Carapia learned to paint murals in Mexico City when he was growing up.
By Jonathan Gramling
Rodrigo Carapia, a 2025 LPA Yo Soy honoree, grew up with a presence of Latin art in his life. He was surrounded by it in his native Mexico City.
“I started painting art murals when I was 13-years-old,” Carapia said. “In Mexico City, there is a lot of art. I grew up seeing art around the city. I have family members who were also artists when I was a kid. That’s when I started practicing it and I really liked it. When I was 14-years-old, I was painting my first murals. I didn’t have any formal training. I just kept practicing and practicing.”
It was a very informal process to get permission to do a mural.
“You ask the owner of the building and if they give you permission, you paint something for them,” Carapia said. “I painted primarily cultural murals, at that time about Mexican culture. I focused on the colors and the elements that represent us.”
When Carapia was 17-years-old he moved to Madison with his brother who had a job here. Yhe first order of business was survival.
“When I moved here, it was hard to start doing murals because I had no connections and I didn’t know where to ask to do murals,” Carapia said. “And so I just started focusing on work. I was doing all kinds of work like kitchen and construction. And then years later, I started meeting people. And I started asking around about art. That’s how I started showing my art. And because of my style and what I do, I started connecting with a lot of people because I was thinking I could represent them through my art. I started getting attention and people started asking for more art, so I kept doing it.”
While Carapia is known for his murals, it is his canvas paintings that got him started in Madison’s art community.
“At first because there weren’t a lot of walls to paint, I started painting on canvas with acrylic paint,” Carapia said. “It was a combination of the acrylic paint and the street art. That’s how my style became a little more stronger because I was using two techniques: what I learned in Mexico and what I was learning here. It was a combination of those styles. The style that I have right now is a blend of cultural street art and fine art.”
It was O’Keeffe Middle School that gave Carapia his break into painting murals in Madison.
“Someone from O’Keeffe Middle School asked if I wanted to do a mural in their school,” Carapia recalled. The subject was restorative justice. I did that mural around 2013. After completing that mural, a lot of schools became aware of my work and they started asking me about doing murals in their schools. That’s how I got connected to the community. I used my art to connect to the community and I donated my time teaching art and doing workshops.”
And then Carapia branched out beyond the schools.
“I was painting a lot for a lot of restaurants and other businesses,” Carapia said. “And I was also getting some commissions for a painting. When I paint something for someone, I make a connection with the person who is buying my art. I become friends with them. That’s also how I started meeting a lot of people. I would get a lot of love from the community because it was not just me making art. It was meeting someone and making a connection and understanding what they want from my art and then try try to do it for them.”
In essence, Carapia was working two full time jobs: the 9 to 5 that supported him financially and his art work that sustained his passion.
“I was working full time on my jobs and art was a passion that I have,” Carapia said. “I love to paint, but it was not my full-time job. I was just making time to paint. I never stopped painting. I was doing all kinds of jobs. But I never stopped painting because I knew that some day, I would become a full-time artist. And so I kept painting at night or on my days off. That’s when I would do the murals and give the workshops. I was always busy. It was work and art, work and art. But it was something that I needed to go through to be able to become a full-time artist.”
Eventually, Carapia’s dream came true..
“I became a full-time artist two years ago,” Carapia said. “My business is murals, screen printing and art workshops. I also do gallery shows. I have done gallery shows Overture, Common Wealth Development, Madison College Truax gallery, and Arts + Literature Laboratory. I also get invited to exhibit my work in the schools including Marquette University, and UW-Madison. I went to Des Moines and did a show there at Mainframes Studios. It has a collective approach to art. They invited me to do my first show out of Wisconsin. Mainframes is a building specific for artists. There were 250 artists in studios in that building. They invited me to do an art show in that building. It was very special.”
With having painted over 50 murals in Madison, on some levels, Carapia has created a beautiful Latin presence in Madison, like a sign on a post to let people know they are welcome.
“I paint to represent the colors that I saw when I was a kid,” Carapia said. “The elements that I use are the elements that represent my family, my ancestors, my community and the people around me. Some people say they feel represented by my art and I love that part. I do the art because I love it. I do it because I feel that we need to have a connection with our groups. When I use the colors, I try to use the colors of my people and connect to their roots. They can feel happy when they see it. And they can have a good moment enjoying the art. My goal is to make art on the street that connects people. I’m very passionate about the culture, Latin American culture. It’s not just about my Mexican culture anymore. It’s Latin American culture because we are tied together.”
While it is a Latine presence in Madison that Carapia creates, it is a beauty that anyone can enjoy and appreciate. Rodrigo Carapia brings joy to everyone.