THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL ISSUE
For artist Frida Mejia, art should create community. The recent Columbia graduate in fine arts has lived her entire life in Little Village and admired the sense of community she was raised in, like seeing her neighbors supporting one another.
“I think it’s very important for us to create our own space and take up the space,” Mejia said.
Mejia’s art mainly focuses on public artworks like murals and portraits where she explores themes related to the neighborhood of Little Village, while also specifically focusing on the physicality of love and her Latina identity.
These themes were present in her art exhibit, “Soñando Con Tu Amor,” which displayed big and small portraits that used bright colors. In one piece, a baby with wings is held up by someone, and in another piece, two nude women are present with a man by their side.
What really draws Mejia to murals are their size. She said that because of their scale and how public they are, the art is no longer just for the artist, but instead for a much larger audience.
When Mejia was finishing up high school, she joined the art program Yollocalli Arts Reach. Yollocalli is part of the National Mexican Museum of Art, and according to its website, they offer arts and culture programming to young people.
At Yollocalli, Mejia said she learned how to perfect her art style, began coming out of her shell, interacted with other artists and collaborated with them, all the while gaining more confidence in herself.
It was there where Mejia produced her first collaborative mural with other artists in the Bridgeport neighborhood. She worked with Columbia adjunct faculty Cecilia Beavan and they all painted a mural depicting alebrijes hugging each other, surrounded by water.
Also during her time at Yollocalli, Mejia had the opportunity to create art pieces for the music festivals Lollapalooza and Sueños. There, she created various pieces using spray paint on large cubes. Her use of bright, vivid colors was on display as various characters, designs and objects, like lipstick and a microphone, were depicted on them.
“I never would have thought that my art would make it to that level,” Mejia said. “I feel like a lot of people here in our community don’t really think that you could do something with art that big.”
She’s been a part of the organization for five years but wants to leave the program after this summer to “pass the torch.”
For Fernando Ruiz, one of the coordinators for Yollocalli, seeing Mejia grow as an artist during her time there has been incredible.
“We love all the work that she’s produced on her own and with us,” Ruiz said. “We hope to keep her close on the network as much as possible.”
This passion for art is not new for Mejia.
She said that she has been a part of the art world since she was a kid, thanks to her parents. On top of being teachers in the Chicago Public Schools district, her dad is an illustrator and her mom is a big fan of Frida Kahlo. Mejia’s mom would sign her up for art programs for kids offered at the National Mexican Museum of Art.
“I think that was a huge help with me pushing out my creativity,” Mejia said.
Her resonance with Little Village and her artistic spirit are what made her want to study art in college. After looking at other art schools and programs, she ended up landing on Columbia College because of how welcoming the community was.
“When I did take a tour there, I felt like I resonated a little bit more with the community,” Mejia said. “It felt a bit more welcoming and accepting than the other art schools that I toured.”
Mejia said that the classes she took at Columbia helped her expand her artistic horizons. Beforehand, she would just doodle in her sketchbook or help produce larger works with Yollocalli. In no time, she was learning other art modes like printmaking, figure drawing and still life.
Mejia said that she spent most of her time in the Makerspace at Columbia, and from there she met instructional specialist Atlan Arceo-Witzl. Mejia then took his class, “Foundation Skill: Stamps and Stencils.”
Arceo-Witzl said that Mejia’s use of colors and textures creates a nostalgic feeling, yet her art has matured over the years of knowing her.
“It was cool to see her process,” Arceo-Witzl said. ”Just building layers of colors and then kind looking at it and then assessing, and then maybe like going back to a color she had already printed before. I’ve just never seen a student work that way.”
During that time, Mejia would meet arts and entertainment management graduate Camryn Mather. Mather graduated a year before Mejia in 2025. She would then recommend Mejia to an organization that Mather herself was a part of.
The RIA Experience, or Real Innovative Artists, curates art exhibits and organize community gatherings in the city. Mather asked Mejia if she was interested in trying out curation as a way to try out something new. Now, Mejia is part of the team in charge of curating exhibits and galleries.
Mather said that she believes Mejia is a good artist because of how versatile she is in various art genres, all while representing her culture and life values.
“Being an artist isn’t just a career or a profession — it’s a way of life,” Mather said. “Her work is not simply something she does; it is an expression of who she is.”
Looking to the future, Mejia said she eventually wants to get her masters in museum studies and work as an art teacher. In the meantime, she continues creating murals in her neighborhood and curating exhibits. In regards to her murals, she wants to reflect on the presence of familiarity and sense of community that she finds in her neighborhood.
“Everybody helps each other out. Everybody encourages each other. We’re very welcoming to each other. We always converse with each other,” Mejia said. “So I think seeing those things where I live has brought more color into my life.”
Copy edited by Venus Tapang
This story also appears in the Chronicle’s back-to-school issue.
