FRESH, BOLD, & SO DEF

International street artist, teacher, activist, and canvas painter CECE CARPIO, is married to the Struggle, has a love affair with Art, a fling with Music, and a commitment to family, community and justice. From the mountains of the Philippines to the hustle of Brooklyn, Cece paints constantly. Equal parts illustrator, muralist and canvas painter, her work combines bold portraits, natural elements and historical moments to tell stories that move. Her heart beats for the Bay Area, hip hop, freedom fighters worldwide and everyday people struggling for survival. Cece was a 2010 Immigrant Artist fellow with New York Foundation of the Arts, NYFA and a 2005-2007 National Fellow for the Environmental Leadership Program. She directed various Youth program for Environmental Health at Literacy for Environmental Justice, a youth empowerment and environmental justice organization in the Bayview Hunters Point community of San Francisco. Previously, Cece coordinated the Youth Envision program where she trained high school youth in community assessment and advocacy skills around food security and environmental justice issues, and implemented a Good Neighbor Program to promote environmental sustainability and improve the quality of food available for local residents. She then carried her work to Brooklyn working as Program Director for UPROSE, implementing environmental justice initiatives in the issues of air justice, brownfields, and green economy. Cece was also a member of the Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and worked on arts and activism, cultural resistance, indigenous peoples rights, and social justice for communities of color. She is currently teaching with JuanaAlicia in the True Colors Mural project at Berkeley City College. The True Colors Mural Project supports the development of young artist activists for the improvement of the urban environment through the creation of public murals. The purpose of the murals is to both educate urban dwellers and beautify the urban environment with messages and images that support ecological sustainability, conservation and restoration. Cece is also painting with the Water Writes project with Estria Foundation creating murals reflecting communities issues with water. She can often be found painting with her crew the Trust Your Struggle artist collective, working in collaboration with other artists, teaching arts education and traveling around the world in pursuit of the perfect wall. She has produced and exhibited work in the Philippines, Fiji Islands, Cuba, Italy, Norway, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and numerous cities throughout the United States. www.cececarpio.com