Portfolio
"....How do we change the way we change the way we feel..."
Pablo Ruiz Arroyo | Pablitosomething | Raiz
My art always represents the idea that the beauty and amazement of a moment is found in self reflection. I have travelled the world for many years. Everywhere I go, the constant focus of my work always relates back to the indigenous people of the first nations around the world and their descendants. I was born in La Paz Bolivia and come from the Aymara people of the Andes Mountains. The protection of the Andes Mountains has preserved many traditions of my people from the influence of European Colonization. My hometown is the highest city in the world, at 12,000 feet above sea level. Altitude sickness, mountainous terrain, and constant landslides, have all done a great job to deter people from joining the community. Sadly, the constant conflicts of the nation resulted in my family’s displacement in the 80’s. Since then I have become a US citizen, accomplished college graduate of the Fine Arts, and a striving artist. Finding my roots, living in Bolivia as an adult, has been the defining inspiration to my ambitions as an artist. I want my art to inspire the communities of the world to find pride in their own communities and grow together.
Artist Bio
“Raiz”, also known as Pablo Moisés Ruiz Arroyo, started his career in La Paz, Bolivia. His hometown is a place of many indigenous cultures, and a huge inspiration to his art and life. As an adult he embarked on a year-long journey to migrate from Bolivia to California by traveling over land, and supported himself with murals, street performance, and chalk art along the way. Upon settling in California, opportunities for mural work took him global, including Australia, South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore), New Zealand, Central America, and Europe. Now back in San Francisco Pablo collaborates with local organizations such as Precita Eyes Muralists, Mission Housing, Mission Cultural Center, The Center for Independent Living, The San Francisco Arts Commission, and many others. His mission is to beautify communities for the benefit of its people. Together with Pancho Pescador he co-founded “Chilovia,” a portmanteau of Chile + Bolivia, and tribute to their two home countries. He got his BA in fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2009 with a focus on Communication Arts.
During his time in New Zealand he created a youth mentorship program as part of an artist residency in the Tauranga Historical District with the support of local art collective The Incubator. During that process he mentored local youth and directed their artistic ambitions in the practice of figure drawing, perspective fundamentals, watercolor techniques and spray paint techniques.
Since his return to San Francisco he has dedicated his time to contributing to community based arts such as murals and group projects. He participates in various gallery shows in such places as the Mothbelly Gallery, Against The Grain Gallery, and Helvela Studios. He assists on many murals throughout the Bay Area to such artists as Johanna Poethig, Daniel Galvez, Marta Ayala, Twin Walls Murals, and many others. He is currently displayed on a collaborative mural in the Oakland International Airport and is in the process of installing a new collaborative mural in the Ashby BART station of Berkeley.
His biggest inspiration is the refuge he found in creating art. From an early age he could be found with a pencil in hand drawing on whatever he could. Throughout his life the time and places where he found growth always revolved around art. The freedom to convey things beyond words and the excitement to create something never before seen enveloped him. Through art he found his first mentor, his peers, family and career.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Pablo Moisés Ruiz Arroyo is a mural artist dedicated to supporting the community everywhere he has lived. Through many years of travels and prolific mural painting, he honed his craft to convey the history, myths and life found in each community he has been invited to create artwork in. He is motivated by a sense of duty to be remembered for acts of kindness and dedication to a collective of visionaries hoping for a better future.
RECENT MURAL PROJECTS
“Window into the Past” ; 6th Ave and Geary st, San Francisco CA; June 2025
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by the Alushe Coffee Bar Restaurant)
“Off Center ” ; Decentered Arts Studio Non Profit building, San Francisco CA; September 2025
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by the Decentered Arts Non Profit Organization)
“United Playaz Mural” ; United Playaz Non Profit building, San Francisco CA; June 2025
Assistant artist (Commissioned by the United Playaz Non Profit Organization)
“Nelly Hannon Gateway Mural” ; Nelly Hannon Gateway Building, Oakland CA; June 2025
Assitant artist and site coordinador (Commissioned by the City of Oakland)
“The World is Yours” ; San Mateo Youth Services Building, San Mateo CA; February 2025
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission)
“Threads of Unity”; Canal Alliance Buildings, San Rafael, CA; July 2024
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by Canal Alliance Non-Profit Organization)
“Open the Mind” Santa Clara Fair Grounds, Santa Clara, CA; August 2023
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by Culture1 Organization)
“Life in Flight”; Alameda Taxi Way, Alameda, CA; August 2023
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by Radium Presents in partnership with the Alameda Council)
“Controllers of Their Destiny”; Shelton High School, Shelton, WA; July 2023
Assistant mural painter to Mural Master Daniel Galvez.
“Lives of Fruitvale”; Oakland, CA; December 2023
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by Bridge Housing Corporation)
“Disability is Strength”; Oakland International Airport Terminal 1, Oakland CA, January 2023
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by the Center for Independent Living Non-profit Organization)
“The Great Box Coverup”; Sunnyvale, CA; August 2023
Lead artist and designer (Commissioned by City of Sunnyvale Department of Library and Recreation Services)
“Mentes Libres”; Kids Speaking Spanish Preschool, Oakland, CA; May 2022
Lead painter and designer, led workshops and worked with students to develop concepts (Commissioned by Kids Speaking Spanish Immersion Preschool, though Precita Eyes Muralists)
“New works by Toyin Ojih Odutola”; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco , CA; March 2023
Assistant painter for SFMOMA exhibit by Toyin Ojih Odutola. Project directed by Eungie Joo, lead by Twin Walls Mural Company (Commissioned by Banayat Family Trust)
“The Bridge, Bruce Lee”; Chinese Historical Society, San Francisco, CA; May 2022
Assistant painter, project directed by Twin Walls Mural Co. (Commissioned by the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum for the “We are Bruce Lee” exhibit)
“The Primal Sea”; Garfield Square, San Francisco California; August, 2020
Lead restoration artists for the historical mural, originally painted 1981 (Commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission)
LANGUAGES
Native Speaker in Spanish, English
EDUCATION
Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, Virginia; B.A. in Fine Arts, 2009
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
Incubator Creative Hub Artist Residency; Tauranga, New Zealand; June-July 2019
Laboratory Art + Residency; Spokane, Washington; August - October 2018