Urban ArtWorks
August 2, 2024
Artist Spotlight: Natalia Sotelo
Natalia Sotelo (she/her) is a binational visual artist from Mexico City and Seattle who specializes in oil paintings, murals, and bringing the mystical to life. She graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Fine Arts and Business in 2023, and works at Urban ArtWorks in Seattle serving as a Teaching Artist and Projects Facilitator. Her work draws inspiration from her Mexican heritage, featuring colorful figures and representations of ancient Aztec deities. Sotelo’s art highlights underrepresented women from history, addresses climate change, and explores the spirituality of different cultures that interconnect us. She has collaborated with UrbanArtworks, Xbox, H&R Block, and local communities to create transformative murals. She is also versed in gouache, digital art, ink, and other mixed media to act as storytelling tools.
An image of Natalia Sotelo. Natalia is a Latina woman with brown eyes and currently short hair. She is wearing a black shirt with gray pants and is sitting on a stool inside of the Urban ArtWorks hallway inside the Inscape Arts Building. She is looking away from the camera.
Tell us about your Urban ArtWorks involvement.
I began my involvement with Urban ArtWorks in 2019 as an intern and assisting the art programs. Since then I now lead mural apprentice programs, facilitate community paint days, and work with both projects and programs teams. The amazing people and artists, the mission and vision, the youth, and the supportive, collaborative environment has kept Urban ArtWorks close to my heart, and wanting positivity and growth for its community.
Can you describe a memorable moment during a mural project with Urban ArtWorks?
A memorable mural was when we got to paint a wall at the Lumen Field stadium with the Mural Apprentice Program in collaboration with the Seahawks. It was a big project, and we all got the opportunity to visit the stadium with the students and run across the field. It was also memorable because we had some challenges with the design, so the students also got to experience real-life art feedback and collaboration to make the project pull through. It was great teamwork, and a memorable experience.
The photo shows the mural at Lumen Field stadium, created through the Mural Apprentice Program in collaboration with the Seahawks. The mural features a colorful scene with various elements, including silhouettes of people in shades of red and orange on the left, and a large book with flowers, a heart, and a butterfly emerging from it. On the right side, green silhouettes of people and the words “Fly High” are set against a backdrop of mountains, trees, and buildings. Natalia and apprentices stands in front of the mural, with bright yellow signs pointing to different locations within the stadium add context to the setting.
Can you share a memorable collaboration you had with community members or other artists while working on a mural with Urban ArtWorks, and if it influenced the final outcome?/ Do you have any stories about how a mural you created impacted the community where the mural was located, particularly in terms of community engagement and pride?
The mural I created in Ballard through Urban ArtWorks and H&R Block is an example where I took community life, the neighborhood and surroundings to create a mural which reflected that. It was also a special mural because I was able to include symbols of my grandfather who had recently passed at the time, as he was from Ballard for a period of his life. On the community paint day, the neighbors and community came to paint the mural in, and they were able to create some of the images like the fish and give them different touches. It was also a special wall because it would get torn down in a few years, so we know how ephemeral our time with it was, so it made us appreciate it more.
Can you share a time during a mural project with Urban ArtWorks that challenges perceptions or expands your understanding of a particular issue or community?
Teaching the Mural Apprentice Programs has made me understand the importance of bringing access to art to young people, both from a teachers perspective and a student perspective. During a Mural Apprentice Program in Burien we had a session that merged both visual arts and written word. The mural took place on a wall that had a history for gang tags and violence. Bringing the ideas of the youth living in that area about their neighborhood was indispensable to the creation of art that strove for peace and representation. The program culminated in a beautiful event where the students recited poetry they created about their identity, and a mural unveiling with the community. The mural still stands strong a few years later.
An image of Natalia Sotelo. Natalia is a Latina woman with brown eyes and currently short hair. She sits relaxedly on a chair in front of a colorful mural that she made. The mural features a scene with a green dragon coiled around a tree, set against a backdrop of warm orange tones. Natalia is wearing a strapless dark orange-colored top and white pants, accessorized with a necklaces and a bracelet. She is smiling and looking to her right.
What is public art and why is it important?
I believe public art is important to both bring joy, and be playful in life, but also to raise awareness of issues facing our communities. A city without murals would be gray, dull and uninviting. A mural depicts what the people themselves have going on inside their heads, their lives. It’s a representation of the joy of imagination and building our environment with the people around us. Public art is a chance to bring art to everyone, as opposed to keeping it in galleries or places not everyone is able to visit.
How does your heritage or identity influence your artwork? Do you incorporate elements of your identity, culture or history into your mural projects?
My art has a multitude of connections to Mexico (where I’m from), and its culture. These range from my color palettes, to symbols and inspiration from artists like Remedios Varo and Frida Kahlo. I am very happy I have been able to create and assist on so many murals, as Mexican muralism is so relevant to our collective art history.
In this photo, Natalia Sotelo, stands at the front of a class holding up a design featuring several star-like shapes cut out of paper. She is teaching a group of students from Woodmoor Elementary School. Natalia is wearing a colorful, paint-splattered jacket, and the students in the foreground are focused on her demonstration. The setting is bright, with a projected image partially visible behind her, on the Urban ArtWorks studio wall.
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming an artist and how you developed your unique style?
I believe I have always been creative, I’ve just channeled it differently throughout my life. At first I expressed my creativity through writing, and in high school it switched to visual arts, and it has been that way ever since. I found my style just through experimenting and creating a lot, as well as seeing artworks I really felt called to. I found I am into maximalist detail, pattern, figures, mysticism, and the other-worldly. I recommend anyone who is looking to find their style just to CREATE! And finding out what you DON’T like to make is just as valuable.
In the photo, Natalia Sotelo, a Latina woman with brown eyes and currently short hair, is intently working on a colorful painting she created. The artwork features a surreal scene with plants, a blue-skinned woman, and a sun-like figure with multiple faces and eyes, all set against a rich red background. Natalia is focused on adding details to the painting, her hand steady as she applies her brush to the canvas.
In the photo, Natalia Sotelo, a Latina woman with brown eyes and currently short hair, is kneeling in the front right with her arms stretched out. She is posing alongside Teaching Artist Bry Sutherland and the MAP apprentices. The group stands in front of the Kirkland Arts Center, where their mural will be created. The apprentices, a diverse group of young individuals, are smiling and making peace signs.
