Artists push Native art to evolve using new techniques and materials
Artists discuss how Native art evolved and why many don’t have the same regard and access to mainstream galleries and museums as non-Indigenous peers.
The artist community in Phoenix is a tight-knit group and when they lose someone as lively and talented as Angel Diaz, the community as a whole grieves along with his family and friends.
Diaz, who was born in 1979, couldn’t be pigeonholed. His talents stretched across many mediums, from large-scale spray-painted murals to tattoos and a great deal in between. He even earned a brown belt in jiu-jitsu.
“He was a storyteller, a mentor and a visionary,” Diaz’s family wrote on his GoFundMe page. “His murals brightened city walls, his tattoos carried deep meaning for those who wore them and his crafts were treasures to everyone who held them. Though he may be gone, his art lives on.”
Where to see Angel Diaz’s art in metro Phoenix
Diaz’s artistic mark on metro Phoenix will indeed live on through the many public art pieces he created.
These include the massive mural that wraps around Mr. Lucky’s Drive Thru at 5043 W. Olive Ave. in Glendale and the Mario Bros.-inspired mural “Super Barrio Bros.” that wraps around the building at the corner of 16th and Van Buren streets in Phoenix.
There’s been an outpouring of love for Diaz on Facebook where friends and family talked about how he was a mentor to them in their artistic endeavors, along with a lot of shared memories and even more talk about how Diaz was a huge supporter of the downtown Phoenix art community.
And the owners of Carly’s Bistro, which occupied a colorful corner of Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix for nearly two decades until it closed in May 2024, posted on the Carly’s Bistro Facebook page about the loss of Diaz.
“It’s been one year since we closed Carly’s after being in business at that location for nearly 20 years,” the post read.
“On our very last day in business, our friend and local artist Angel Diaz came in and got one of everything! He was a regular at our spot during our time there and was a big supporter of ours during the shutdown of 2020-21. We lost our good friend recently and it has really struck us and the community at large.”
Angel Diaz memorial and fundraiser
Diaz’s family and friends have set up a GoFundMe page and organized a memorial and fundraiser to help his family with expenses and to go toward creating a lasting tribute to Diaz.
The event is from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Rocking S Art Ranch, 3131 E. Sheridan St., Phoenix. There will be an art show, food, music, art raffles and more to benefit Diaz’s family.
Meredith G. White covers entertainment, art and culture for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She writes the latest news about video games, television and the best things to do in metro Phoenix.
