By Jacob Lujan
Photo by Jacob Lujan.
For nearly two decades, Del Rio-born artist Adrián Falcón traveled from the United States to Europe to South America, crafting murals and paintings in the countries he explored. During that time, he said he thought he’d never settle down with a family, with kids.
Now both a husband and a father, Falcón has found a passion for imparting art to children internationally. He said he didn’t know where the shift came from, only that his heart changed.
“When I was painting and traveling, I always said I was not going to get married. I always say that I hate kids. OK. Hate kids,” Falcón said. “But now I have two kids, and I’m doing a foundation because, you know, for the kids. So you never say no to anything.”
The Falcón Art Center Foundation, presently the bones of a building standing in what was an abandoned gas station in San Felipe, is the result of an idea he had 10 years ago, inspired by his travels through Mexico. He deemed the project a “global learning center for the youth.”
Photo provided by Adrián Falcón.
Upon its completion, the 1500-square-feet building will house 10 kids and an artist each month for free classes, workshops and interviews. Funded by Falcón, his community and his sponsors, the foundation will provide free materials and classes for visiting kids.
The art they create will line the gallery, and their hands will paint its walls before its grand opening.
Fernando Garcia, recently-elected Val Verde County Commissioner Pct. 3, first met Falcón nearly 20 years ago when he joined the City of Del Rio Board of Adjustments.
Since then, Garcia has offered Falcón his help and his friendship, assisting him with projects across the world, from Del Rio to Venice, Italy.
“He’s been talking about creating a foundation for years, and then finally he goes, ‘Fernando.’ He goes, ‘I have to do this,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ So he and I sat down and we sketched out the bylaws for the foundation,” Garcia said.
“I’ve been helping him since, well, basically ground zero, you know, and he’s passionate about art, and he’s passionate about teaching art and having kids be exposed to art and expanding their horizons.”
The foundation, Falcón said, will feature only recyclable materials in both its art and its construction, and it will be entirely “off the grid.” It will source its power from solar panels and green technology, making the Falcón Art Center Foundation the first of its kind
Photo by Jacob Lujan.
The foundation’s inspiration came from a years-long project Falcón took on in Mexico.
Working with the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas, Falcón set out to fashion a mural in each of Mexico’s 32 states.
He rented a van and traveled from Acuña to Yucatan, a 45-hour journey.
During his exploration of the country, Falcón said he learned from the 68 indigenous tribes of Mexico and sought to capture their individual, distinct cultures with his art.
In many cases, children from the community joined Falcón in creating his murals.
“The indigenous kids, they didn’t know what modern art is. When I started doing examples, they said that I was ‘Estaba tirando color,’ I was throwing color,” Falcón said. “Yeah, I was throwing the color, but at the end we start shaping the color. That was the biggest experience for me, the kids. The reaction of the color.”
While he did not travel to Mexico with Falcón, Garcia donated paint for the artist to use for his projects and recalled what Falcón accomplished with children across Mexico.
“He would go down there, and he would paint murals in little communities, and he would get local kids to help,” Garcia said. “It wasn’t like he was painting it and they were watching them. They were doing it together. So I think he wants to expose kids to art.
“I think that’s what he’s most interested in, is not only to get kids to look at artwork, but to create their own and help him create art.”
Though his art typically incorporates bright colors, Falcón said the murals he created in Mexico favored darker colors more representative of the tradition and cultures he learned from.
While the project remains unfinished, he said he hopes to one day return to Mexico for its completion.
Before returning to Mexico in 2015, Falcón had not traveled to the country for two decades.
Falcón himself is ancestrally Otomi, a line of warrior peoples of the indigenous Aztec group. After researching the history of his father’s family, Falcón located the city of Cerro Azul, Alfajayucan, Hidalgo, Mexico, populated by 500 people claiming the last name Falcón.
“To learn where I come from and the history and the roots and everything was the most important thing for me,” Falcón said. “The Hispanic culture is everything familia — Family.”
Now with a family of his own, Falcón shares his passions with a wife and children he never expected to have.
His wife, Mari, stepdaughter, Brenda, and sons Tsintsu, which is Aztec for ‘bird,’ and Ikal, Mayan for ‘spirit,’ join him in painting and creating art.
“I just, now I feel complete. The bench over there, there’s a new mural there,” Falcón said, gesturing to a bench outside his gallery in Del Rio. “My entire family participated.”
Lining the floors of the gallery are paint-covered canvases and bright-colored portraits crafted by the hands of his children. The world-known artist’s own works, mostly portraits and large-scale abstract designs, hang from the building’s walls and ceiling.
Photo provided by Dr. Leo Eko.
Though he primarily displays and promotes his work as an artist, Falcón found an early passion in the creativity of construction and the art therein, graduating from Texas Tech with a degree in architecture in 1996.
Facing the culture shock of leaving his predominantly Hispanic hometown, Falcón said while he hated his first year, attending a university far from his home and the people he knew was the best decision he could have made.
“But the thing is, that was the best thing that I did. I didn’t go follow my friends in A&M, UT. I went this route. I don’t go this direction, I go this direction,” he said, pointing different ways with his arms.
Throughout his career, Falcón learned of and from various global cultures, expanding his scope of the world far beyond the predominantly Hispanic community he was familiar with. He said he learned to be open-minded and respect other cultures during his transition to Tech, a lesson he has applied to the rest of his professional career.
With a degree in architecture and a passion for the art within it, Falcón combines the two mediums to connect with his audience and teach them the creativity he has found throughout his life and career.
“Adrián is an architect, but I think he’s really an artist disguised as an architect, because he’s really passionate about art and helping kids,” Garcia said.
Fusing his lifelong passions for architecture, art and — above all — bringing these to children, Falcón said he hopes to open the doors of his foundation for student and professional artists alike by September.
He hopes to eventually extend the foundation internationally, a continuation of the expanses he has already reached with his work.
“The foundation is not just this neighborhood, it’s not just Del Rio. But it’s Acuña, (Bracketville), Eagle Pass, anything related to or surrounding other towns. We’re not just here,” Falcón said.
Photo by Jacob Lujan.
About lesliepantoja
