Richard Cabrera is a self-taught artist of Colombian origin, who arrived in the US in 2018 full of dreams and hopes of conquering the New York art scene. Today he proudly paints large murals in Hispanic restaurants in New York and New Jersey, extolling our Latino cultures.
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But the road has not been without sacrifices.
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Cabrera had to work in construction for 3 years to support himself financially, but he always made room for his art and did not give up on his goals.
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“Of what they paid me, I always got something to buy art supplies,” he says. “And on Saturdays and Sundays I started to paint”
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Fate put him in the right place
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It was in April 2021 that he left construction and was able to fully devote himself to his art. All thanks to the fact that fate put him in the right place.
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“One day a construction colleague asked me to help him paint a house. When we went, the lady wanted something different for the walls of the girl’s room. And my friend told him: ‘Well, she’s talking to the right person. Richard can paint whatever you want on that wall.’ I painted a Winnie the Pooh mural for them and they were delighted. Then I put a photo of that mural on Facebook Marketplace and that’s where it all started,” says Richard.
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From that moment clients began to pour in, one after another, most of them for murals in Latin restaurants in New York, New Jersey and even Connecticut.
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They ask for Catrinas, masks of Inca gods, the Aztec calendar, faces of Frida Kahlo and many other symbols of our cultures.
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“People have received my work very well, it is very satisfying. I still don’t believe it sometimes,” says Richard.
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Murals are sometimes acrylic and vinyl directly against the wall; other times it is oil on canvas that is then mounted.
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He came up with a strategy to attract more customers
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“Thinking about how to reach more customers, I came up with an idea,” adds Richard. “I started putting a QR code on each mural so people can access my contact information. When they scan it they see my phone number, my Instagram page, everything. That way they don’t have to ask the restaurant staff. And it works very well”
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As a man of deep faith, in all this time as an immigrant starting a new life, Richard is sure that God has guided him on his way.
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“Here in New York several times at night I knelt down and spoke to him: ‘God, if you gave me this talent, it’s for a reason. Now I want to live only painting, I don’t want to dedicate myself to anything else’. And I think there were so many of my prayers that God heard me.”
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Richard’s goal now is to exhibit his work in a gallery in New York.
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And he advises all immigrants to never give up their dreams, however difficult they may seem.
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They exhibit a striking mural in the Bronx in support of the protests against climate change
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