COMMUNITY ARTS
Community Art Therapist and Epic Artist Wanda Montemayor has been creating public art since 1998. She has achieved a bachelor's degree in art education, a masters' degree in professional counseling and a post-secondary degree in art therapy, and combines these skills to engage and bring the people of her community together to collectively create massive public works of art through art therapy.
She is able to create ownership in her community through beautifying the city, envelopes the messages of community members making the art, and gives each individual a voice in the final piece by making them a participant artist. Each participant artist is able to express themselves through this creation, and Wanda's skills as both an art therapist and counselor allow participants to take away more than they came with.
Viewers are engaged with each project by understanding the breadth and depth of the work, the variety of voices represented by individual participant artists, and the history and story of the work of art as told through the images.
Her public art is visible all over Austin. Her murals adorn the walls and exteriors of schools, and her works in public parks are iconic pieces that receive rave reviews from critics and the public alike. After finishing the giant Deep Eddy mural project in 2011 (four years in the making), Wanda completed the Oak Hill Phoenix project. Former Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell spoke at both of these unveilings and has awarded Montemayor proclamations for each work. Montemayor completed an epic community art piece at Barton Hills Community Park, unveiled and proclaimed by current Austin Mayor Steve Adler, and has since installed a mural entitled “Nuestro Arte” at the Town Lake YMCA.
