MasPaz Creates "Community" at Cowboy Cafe

©CindyKanePhotography

Growing up across the street from Oakridge Elementary School, MasPaz spent his days creating art. “I was always drawing as a child” says the artist. He remembers copying comic books in his bedroom and drawing in school. In high school, he picked up a camera and began dabbling in photography, “it was the first time [he] felt like [he] was good at something (art related)” he 

explained. Encouraged and supported by his parents, MasPaz attended George Mason with the intention to study art and photography, but as technology grew and become more easily attainable, he worried photography was a dying art and went into 3D modeling.

After graduation, MasPaz moved to New York City to work for a design firm, but soon realized that the sedentary office life was not for him. Inspired to create and meet people, he went on to work in a printing shop in the city, sell t-shirts on the street, worked for Nike as a t-shirt designer, and was hired by the MOMA to work on a set of graphic design installations. He even, at one point, ran a graffiti gallery, called 100B, in the city where he met and befriended “old school artists.” It was in New York that he began his relationship with graffiti art – a relationship that continues to impact his work today.

MasPaz was eventually invited by a friend to go to Brazil and paint boats, an opportunity the artist couldn’t turn down. He lived and worked in Rio de Janeiro for three months where he worked not only on the boats but on murals across the city. “It’s amazing” he said of the city, “you can paint murals anywhere you want.” He spent his

 time in Brazil learning new techniques and styles, collaborating, and sharing techniques and ideas with fellow artists. He later traveled across South America, putting these new skills to work.

​Upon returning home to the DMV in 2012, the name MasPazwas officially born. He was inspired by a stencil he used in South America that said MasPaz,which translates to More Peace. “I liked the meaning and message of the name” said the artist. He made a website, got a trademark, and started promoting his Instagram. 

​Since then, MasPaz has been working regularly across not only the DMV, but the entire East Coast. He often paints murals that depict scenery of nature and mother earth. “The land we’re walking on, the sun, the earth…it’s all sacred” said MasPaz, “I try to include that in my artwork.” His latest work is a mural entitled “Community” painted on the side of Lee Highway’s Cowboy Café.

Connect with Our Sponsors

©CindyKanePhotography

Dominion Lighting
Matt Rowan, VP Residential Lighting
mrowan@dominionelectric.com
www.dominionlighting.com

Potomac Paint
Beth Boggs, Design Manager
​bboggs@potomacpaint.com
www.potomacpaint.com

Esoarc Architects
Pamela Gillen, Founding Principal
pgillen@esoarc.com
www.esoarc.com

 Cindy Kane Photography
Cindy Kane, Owner & Photographer
celliskane@gmail.com  www.cindykanephotography.com

LHA's Placemaking Salon
Ginger Brown, Executive Director
ginger.brown@leehighwayalliance.com
www.leehighwayalliance.com

Arlington Arts
​Jim Byers, Marketing Director
Jbyers@arlingtonva.us
www.arts.arlingtonva.us