Levi Ponce Essay

Levi Ponce was an American with Salvadorean roots from his father, Hector Ponce, and Guatemalan roots from his mother. He was born in 1987 in Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley. At an early age, Levi Ponce was surrounded by art. His father was a sign maker, so Levi helped his father complete many of the signs made. Helping his father allowed Levi to exhibit many artworks and designs along Los Angeles. Since, Levi was surrounded by art at a young age, he decided to remain in the art world. As he got older, he applied to California State University of Northridge, where he received his bachelor's degree in animation in 2009. As two years past, Levi finally decided to start creating art. In order to make a change with his art, he decided to start creating murals back in his community of Pacoima. He wanted to change the negative attention Pacoima

Levi was a self employed muralist. As he began to create murals, he first found a relevant person to include, like a celebrity and a message he wanted to share. He then combined the both to create a beautiful mural on the wall. In Muralist Levi Ponce Uses Van Nuys as a Gallery by Ed Fuentes describes the different art works created by Levi Ponce. In Fuente’s article, he includes Levi’s reason for his murals, "I try and find these things that unite us and get them on the walls. I don't go into a neighborhood with my ideas. It reflects the neighborhood that raised me"(Fuentes,2013) Basically, Levi has a reason for doing the murals. He does not randomly do art on the walls. With his art, his ultimate motivation was creating a change in the place he called home. Levi’s background of Pacoima allowed him to get a better idea of the images he wanted portrayed on walls. Additionally, many of his artwork uses a different culture of what he saw growing up instead of the image other people believed Pacoima to