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Meet Angel Garcia of Arizona Art and Soul in Mesa

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Angel Garcia.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Angel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a child, I loved art and helping others so it’s no surprise that I started my own business doing just that. Art was my favorite class in grade school and my passion for photography began in high school. I went to Phoenix College and my photography journey was great but beautifully interrupted when we started our family. I never had morning sickness but the smell of dark room chemicals would send me running to the nearest bathroom. Fast forward a couple of decades and I was college bound…… Again. Only this time the baby was my grandson and needless to say the subject of many homework assignments. After I earned my Associates in Digital Photography from Phoenix College, I found myself very frustrated working my traditional 9-5 job and would decompress by watching Pit Bulls and Parolees with my German Shepherd fur baby Abby. Major light bulb moment coming up, I didn’t have the room for more fur babies and I still don’t even though we’ve moved and now have two different fur babies. Dulce our shy brindle pit bull and Boris our goofy lab/mastiff. So I decided why couldn’t I do this but with art instead of dogs.

My dream of owning my own business started to take shape. It was time to create and grow something for me. The business has evolved a handful of times over the years but I’ve never stopped moving forward. My ultimate dream: a gallery with room for classes/meetings, built in café and have the opportunity to help the homeless and ex-cons re-enter working society. I don’t have the brick and mortar building yet but I do represent a handful of artists who are currently incarcerated and help another artist who feeds the elderly homeless. Our work can be seen at various art fairs, online and at Handmade Creations Marketplace in Superstition Springs Mall in Mesa. I love love, love running my own business. I’m able to have my fur babies by my side (like I have a choice) while I work and pick my grandson up from school every day. My assistants make my day. They make me laugh and keep me on my toes. Dulce and Boris don’t care about art but will be in a group collection that a few of the inmates and I are working on. My grandson will be in it as well and I’m sure he’ll help with the critique process like he usually does. Art and my business have allowed me to watch my grandson grow up, be there for my family, help inmates work to become productive citizens and help the homeless. I love every crazy minute of it.

Has it been a smooth road?
This journey has been anything but smooth but I wouldn’t change a thing. Each challenge has ultimately been a building block either for me personally or for the business. Communication between myself and the inmates can be challenging but we’ve kinda figured it out and have a pretty good system now. Emails to them can sometimes take as long as snail mail to be delivered. Art fairs are great for meeting people and sharing our story but I often wish I could wave a wand and the setup/tear down part would be magically done. I’m sure one day I’ll be grateful for all the pinched fingers and sore muscles from setting up the pop-up tent. Social media is another challenge for me. I struggle with what to post: personal life, witty quote or what’s going on in the world. Putting my feeling out on display was something you just didn’t do growing up. Some of the lessons I’ve learned so far are very short inmate emails are the fastest and bring band-aids to the fairs. This crazy life and our story are worth all the challenges I may run into. I’ve always been very determined and don’t plan on stopping now just because it’s difficult.

Tell us more about the your art.
Arizona Art and Soul sells different types of art (acrylic paintings, photography, paper mache and recycled robots) created by artists who are both in and out of prison. We also give back to the community by helping to feed the homeless. In 2017 and 2018 AAS was able to provide Christmas gifts for the 110+ elderly homeless at Just A Center in Phoenix. My goal is to use art to help as many people as possible in just as many ways. Art can change your perception, create jobs, provide stability and change lives.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The art world is always changing and evolving and that’s what makes it exciting. I don’t know where I’ll be in five to ten years but I’m going to enjoy the ride there.

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