Months ago I was approached by Target to submit a couple of ideas for a mural in a new store they were planning to open in my old neighborhood of Fordham. Just a block away from my last apartment before moving to the Yankee Stadium area.
They liked my ideas and I was chosen to create a painting for the store that was made into a mural. It was a great experience, and not only I was able to create a piece that in my opinion represents The Bronx, but I was also invited to participate in the campaign they launched for the inauguration, with my artwork and in a cool video. 
Overall it was an amazing experience and I am very proud of it!
You can visit the store and the mural at 215 East Fordham Road (BX), and don't forget to take pictures and tag me!!

Join us to celebrate the closing of our first exhibition in our new space with an artist talk! Meet and greet all the BxAF artists, and get to know their work.

Friday, December 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

BxArts Factory’s Studio 13 Presents: “RISING”
with the participation of:
Álvaro Franco
Andréa Straker
Daniel Aros-Aguilar
Dauris Martinez
FINEZT by Edwin Reyes
Katherine Miranda
Laura Álvarez
Leenda Bonilla
Luís Pagán
Peggy Robles-Alvarado
Ruddy Mejia
Trevon Blondet

Special artwork for sale to help fundraise, created during BxAF events by Laura Alvarez, Laura Villana, Raquel Tusañeza, Peces Con Mar and Vanesa Álvarez. 

240 E 153rd Street, Bronx NY
(Between Park and Morris Avenues).

This past June, ArtBridge, in partnership with NYC nonprofit affordable housing developer CAMBA Housing Ventures, Inc. (CHV), is pleased to announce Bronx Communal Spaces, a public art exhibition featuring works by Bronx-based artists Laura Alvarez, Blanka Amezkua, Trevon Blondet, Matthew Burcaw, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Carlos Wilfredo Encarnación, and James Martocci at CHV 202nd and 203rd Street — a sustainable, affordable, and supportive housing development in the Bedford Park neighborhood for families, formerly homeless households, seniors, and veterans.
Centered on celebrating the shared spaces that bring Bronxites together and enrich the local community, Bronx Communal Spaces — made possible with financial support from CHV — is part of City Canvas, an initiative of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs that transforms the city’s temporary protective structures into platforms for artwork driven by collaboration between local artists and communities.

If you want to visit the exhibition, you can find it at 261 East 202nd Street and 270 East 203rd Street, The Bronx!

"Nature Quilt" is a mural that represents the multiculturality of The Bronx and the Jerome-Gun Hill area. It is a patchwork of patterns with leaves, flowers, stars, bright colors and eyes representing the diversity of the community. It is designed to bring joy and happiness to the events that will take place in that plaza for a year. It will contrast with the dark asphalt around it and it mirrors Nature the park just across the street.
Created as part of an initiative of the Jerome Gun Hill Business Improvement District to beautify and bring to life an underutilized area, this mural brings some happiness to this corner of the Bronx, making the wait for the bus or your lunch break brighter. 
It was an awesome experience, where we invited the community to some on Sunday to paint and prep the area. The next two days I had some really good help from Monica and Pips. Looking forward the next mural opportunity!

Growing Knowledge (2022)
Bronx Bound Books
I had the honor to paint the Bronx Bound Book Bus. We had been talking about this forever, and it finally happened! It is almost done, only one more day of work and it will be ready. But for now it is better than the white version :) 
Growing Knowledge is a design that wants you to think of a knowledge jungle, books in the shape of flowers that make you grow as a person. Knowledge is Power and everyone deserves the chance of getting it. This bus makes books accessible to all neighborhoods, no matter how far they are!
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This Bookstore on Wheels is owned by Latanya Devaughn. It is a mobile bookstore that travels throughout the borough. Especially to neighborhoods where it is needed the most. The idea of Bronx Bound Books is to be a beautiful bus, traveling throughout The Bronx.“Every neighborhood in The Bronx deserves a bookstore, even if it’s just for one day” --Latanya DeVaughn

Next May 18 I will be part of a pretty cool panel at Hostos Community college organized by the Bronx Council on the Arts. Get your free tickets here.

​Join us as we partner with PEN America's NYC Literary Action Coalition for a moderated panel discussion with Bronx-based artists sharing how they have leveraged their own creative voices to address structural inequities and inspire social change. Award-winning literary artist Alejandro Heredia will engage internationally renowned movement artist Ana "Rokafella" Garcia, and internationally exhibited visual artist Laura Alvarez in a broad discussion about the intersection of arts and social justice.

• How do the arts lead to change?
• How do you maintain a social justice perspective in your art practice?
• What does it mean to be an artivist?
• How do we create more resources, and partnership opportunities for folks working at the intersection of art and activism?

Moderator:
Alejandro Heredia is a queer Afro Dominican writer and community organizer from The Bronx. He has received fellowships from Lambda Literary, VONA, the Dreamyard Rad(ical) Poetry Consortium, and the Dominican Studies Institute. In 2019, he was selected by Myriam Gurba as the winner of the Gold Line Press Fiction Chapbook Contest. His book of short stories, You’re the Only Friend I Need (2021), explores themes of queer transnationalism, friendship, and (un)belonging in the African Diaspora. Alejandro’s work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Lambda Literary Review, Tasteful Rude Magazine, and elsewhere.
Panelists:
Ana "Rokafella" Garcia is a NYC native who has represented women in Hip-hop dance professionally over the past three decades. She co-founded Full Circle Prod Inc – NYC's only non-profit Break Dance Theater company with her husband, veteran Bboy Kwikstep, generating theater pieces, original poetry, and local dance related events. She performs music based on her experiences growing up in Hip-hop's birthplace and has had her poetry published in a Bronx Poets anthology. In addition to directing the documentary about Bgirls (women who Breakdance) "All the Ladies Say," she is hired internationally to judge Break dance competitions based on her mastery of the classic Hip-hop dance style. Presently an adjunct professor at The New School and a Hip hop dance instructor at Peridance Studios in NYC and NJPAC, she motivates aspiring dancers to understand and to learn the business side of being an independent artist.
Laura Alvarez is an illustrator, author, designer, visual artist, muralist, community activist and educator. In NYC, she juggles her city job, her artist career, and her commitment to her Bronx community. Laura is the Co-Founder, Vice-President and COO of BxArts Factory, a non-profit organization whose mission is to make art accessible to everyone in the Bronx. She is also part of the Board of Directors of Artbridge, a non-profit that empowers local artists to transform prominent urban spaces into gallery-quality exhibitions, focusing on New York City’s 300+ miles of construction fencing and scaffolding. She has received several awards and grants that she has used to promote the arts among Bronx youths and to create work that starts a conversation about ecology, womanhood, racism, tradition, inequality, and immigration.

Join me for a Volunteer Paint Day! We will start a 1000 sq. feet mural to brighten the neighborhood!

This June 5, I will be starting a new asphalt mural with the Jerome Gun Hill Bid and everyone is welcome to paint!
Come prepared, with your messy clothes, painting skills, a hat and some sunscreen. We will provide water and some light snacks, but there are plenty of businesses to get food around the area.
Go to this link to SIGN UP, You can choose between the 4 shifts and get ready to get your hands dirty!
Once on site, you will be asked to sign a waiver in order to participate.
First come, first served basis.

Last Spring I painted one of the picnic tables now on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Around the Table: Stories of the Foods we Love, is a celebration of art and science of edible plants. On view from Saturday, June 4, 2022 to Sunday, September 11, 2022. 
Not only you can visit the garden and check all the amazing tables from the Bronx artists, but you can also join me for the workshop I will be leading by my table:
August 20 from 12 to 4pm
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
Artist Laura Álvarez Fernández traces her roots back to Valencia, Spain in this celebration of Spanish paella, a versatile rice dish. On this afternoon, you are invited to join Laura to design a plate that features your favorite ancestral dish.

Sunday, May 1, 2022 // Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with us!
Join Bronx Bound Books and the Riverdale Y Sunday Market for a day filled with nutritious food for the body and for the soul!
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. I will be signing my picture book "Eggie's Adventures at Poe Cottage" and I will have some surprises too! Come and meet author Tara Tatelbaum and learn more about her book "Putting My Heels Down".
This is going to be a great Sunday!