Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Vallejo.
Hi Alicia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Since I was a child, I loved going to museums, visiting exhibitions, and attending cultural events such as the cinema, theater, and ballet. However, I had never experienced painting or creating with my hands. I was always a bit clumsy with manual work; my strengths were reading, researching, and analyzing. My interests leaned toward the social sciences and literature, which is why I studied Anthropology.
As an adult, after studying and working in my profession, and always living in a rush — I married and became a mother very young — I spent years balancing school, work, raising my children, and managing a home. After completing my Master’s degree in Government and Local Planning, hoping to continue working in social anthropology and pursue better professional opportunities, I suddenly found myself unemployed because I did not belong to a political group. It was a very strong emotional blow.
At that time, my husband, who is an industrial designer, and I had started an art school for children, offering afternoon and vacation classes, as well as wood painting workshops for women in the mornings. When I lost my job, I decided to attend those classes. I began painting small pieces of wood and, without realizing it, that was the beginning of a deep transformation. I discovered a universe of colors, shapes, and possibilities to express emotions. From that day on, I have never stopped surrounding myself with brushes, paint, and creativity.
From wood I moved to canvas; from copying to creating. Little by little, I found my own style: innocent, simple, but full of love, passion, and joy.
In 2010, we made the brave and right decision to move to Miami with the goal of opening a branch of our art academy. I went from being a student to becoming a teacher. I began teaching art history to young children while continuing to paint, believing more and more in my work and dreaming without limits. I found people who supported me, and opportunities arose to exhibit in different spaces throughout the United States and other countries. What once seemed unreachable became reality when, in 2014, one of my works was exhibited at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. In 2017, I was named Hispanic Artist of the Year in the City of North Miami.
In 2016, I began working at the North Miami Beach Library, and once again everything gained deeper meaning. I moved from canvases to painting walls: the façade of the library, a city park, and the cultural center were artistically intervened.
In 2019, I started teaching classes to senior adults, and with them I found an even more meaningful purpose for my art. During the pandemic in 2020, I created virtual courses on YouTube. I spent entire days painting, working with papier-mâché, recycling, and recording videos so that many people could find in art a refuge and a form of expression.
When we returned to in-person activities, the reality deeply moved me: fear, loneliness, sadness. Seeing seniors so vulnerable and young people absorbed by screens pushed me to look for a way to reconnect us, to move from the individual to the collective. That is how a new community project was born, painting the city’s amphitheater together with children. Then came yarn and thread, and with them a magical project: Connecting and Painting Community, where art and anthropology merge with one single purpose — to serve the community.
I traveled to Colombia and, together with the Fucai Foundation, we created the first Indigenous Wayuu textile installation in Bogotá. It was a beautiful and challenging experience. I was in one of the most beautiful and, at the same time, most forgotten areas of my country. There, alongside women weavers who carry ancestral knowledge, we created coverings to dress the trees of one of the most important parks in Bogotá.
Back in Miami, we continued weaving with my North Miami Beach community. We have now completed three major art installations. In December 2024, more than 40 women — most of them senior adults — worked for three months to cover the palm trees and trees along Hanford Boulevard with color. With the support of the CRA, the library, and the city, we paid tribute to Florida’s flora and fauna. For 2025, we wanted to go even further: we crocheted more than 250 umbrellas and hula hoops to create a sky of dancing umbrellas filled with color, hope, love, respect, solidarity, sisterhood, and empathy — to continue weaving connection.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Obstacles are always present, but they are an essential part of growth. Securing funding and permits has been one of the greatest challenges, though never enough to make me give up. My dream is to focus only on creating, without constantly worrying about resources. Every project requires funding and permits, especially when we intervene in public spaces and urban elements. However, Connecting and Painting Community is a clear purpose, and I know I will achieve it, because it is no longer just my dream — it is the collective dream of many people who want to transform spaces, beautify the city, and generate well-being through art.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an artist, a weaver of dreams and realities. My achievements are always shared. None of this would be possible without the unconditional support of my family, who are also my strong team: my husband and my two daughters, architects and artists, who handle all the technical and logistical aspects. And having the wonderful group of women who weave with me is my greatest treasure. My senior ladies are the most committed and loving artists I know. Thanks to them, my ideas become reality, and every day I learn from their knowledge, experiences, and life stories.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I firmly believe that part of success — if it can be called that — lies in giving my best in every project: time, love, dedication, and passion. I am persistent and committed, and when something settles in my heart, I do everything necessary to bring it forward.
Through these community art projects, I have found my purpose in life. And I am deeply happy doing what I love most.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aliciamariavallejo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciamariavallejo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciamariavallejo
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-maria-vallejo-79850034/
Image Credits
For The Future You- Yoshkarla
