Perpetual Voice: Artist, Luis Del Valle
- Luis Del Valle
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
In this piece, I’m exploring how to draw more attention to what’s happening in today’s world, shining a light on the issues that will eventually affect us, directly or indirectly. Zoom in to see better details and messages.
Always relevant, always powerful, always generous - Luis Del Valle's work serves the global community. It takes courage to bring social injustices to life through his images and narratives, and Garden Spices is here to support him. Gate open on Luis Del Valle! - Victorine
The Journey is a meditation on the divinity and humanity of children and the fragile certainty of their tomorrow. The little boy with the halo embodies a sacred light, the innate divinity that every child carries, while his companion, resting yet alert, represents humanity: resilient, tender, and watchful. Their posture speaks to a dual state of restoration and vigilance, an echo of how young lives must hold hope and caution in equal measure.
In this painting, I decided to use my two sons as the models, making the work, in many ways, a self-portrait. Their presence brought back memories of my own journey as a child, migrating with my family from Nicaragua to the United States. That personal history of movement, uncertainty, and resilience lives in their faces, tying the generational threads of past and future together.
Painted on a reclaimed street sign, the work speaks to direction and danger. Just as traffic signs warn us of hazards ahead, this surface reminds us of the precarious pathways children must navigate, especially those shaped by
migration, displacement, and systemic inequities. The bright orange ground, both urgent and cautionary, frames their innocence with the tension of the world they inherit.
This piece is part of an ongoing dialogue with Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, which chronicled the movement of people searching for safety and opportunity. In a similar spirit, The Journey situates today’s children within a
passage still unfolding, one marked by hardship, resilience, and an enduring
spirit that insists on a better future.
This painting carries me back to memories of my grandmother balancing a basket of bread on her head as she returned from the family bakery. What seemed like effortless grace was actually years of strength, balance, and dedication.
My goal with this series is to normalize and highlight the true character of the Hispanic community in the midst of the misinformation that too often gets perpetuated. These works honor the dignity, resilience, and entrepreneurial spirit that generations before me carried with pride.
For me, this work is more than a portrait; it’s a story of entrepreneurship, resilience, and the spirit
of everyday people who build the fabric of a nation with their hands, their labor, and their love.
I love telling stories through portraiture. This mural begins with this portrait of a Nacotchtank Native American. This portrait is part of an almost 300-foot-long mural.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Gabrielle Tayacas as a valuable source of insight, helping me accurately portray this Nacotchtank Native. Muchas Gracias Gabrielle
Artist Bio
Award-winning artist, Luis Peralta Del Valle was born in Nicaragua in 1980 and migrated to the U.S. in 1985. At the age of 13, he began painting graffiti murals in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. A few years later at Bell Multicultural High School, he began his formal artistic education, continuing his studies at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
In 2013, Luis was selected as the winner of the East of the River Distinguished Artist Award. That year, he was also a finalist for the District of Columbia's 28th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. These accomplishments preceded the presentation of the National Museum of Catholic Art and Library National Artist Award by Prince Lorenzo Maria De Medici in 2014, and his selection as the artist commissioned for the 2015 Beijing / District of Columbia Sister Cities Project. The latter project resulted in a panda statue painted by Del Valle that was given to the Mayor of Beijing as a state gift from Mayor Muriel Bowser. Del Valle is also the recipient of the 2015 National Museum of Catholic Art and Library Portrait Award. In 2017, Luis was honored with the NCIS Director’s Coin by NCIS director, Andrew L. Traver.
Luis received his first commission from the fitness franchise Body by Jake after his 16th birthday. Since then, he has been commissioned by other businesses, foundations, public institutions, museums, and private collectors to create murals, portraits, sculptures, and paintings of various themes. Luis has exhibited his works at various museums and institutions, including NCIS headquarters, V.A., The Embassy of Italy, The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, The Historical Society of Washington DC, The Vatican Embassy, and the Frederick DouglassIsaac Myers Museum in Baltimore, MD.
Contact: collector@lovehopeart.com , Instagram
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