By ANN ESAMILLA, Staff Reporter.
Art is an expression of oneself. It’s a way that artists can share with the world their soul and voice. It is a way artists can define themselves. For artist Joseph “Sentrock” Perez, from Chicago and Phoenix, art is everything. Thursday April 9 at 2 p.m. in the lecture theater Perez will join Delta students with a conversation about his work and career.
Growing up in the worst areas of west Phoenix, Perez was surrounded by a troubled world, but was able to discover his love for art through an elementary school visit by famous muralist Martin Moreno.
“I got hooked to art when I was young. Martin Moreno showed me the world of painting. It was the first thing that gave me a voice and allowed to express my thoughts,” said Perez.
Moreno reminded Perez of his grandfather and Perez soon become fond of Moreno and had a chance to study with the muralist.
When asked what he learned from Moreno, Perez said, “As a kid – everything. I didn’t know anything about art before him. I learned that someone like him, someone like me can mean something so dope.”
Later Perez got involved with social activism and Americorps. He joined Americorps, a civil society program that works toward helping others and meeting community needs, at the age of 23. From then he started spreading his art around in murals on the outer walls of buildings in Phoenix and Chicago.
“I didn’t know much about it (Americorps) till someone told me I should do it. I didn’t know anything about non-profits or the way they worked, I just knew if I had opportunities to use my art I did it. I learned so much from that time, I would say it was probably one of the biggest steps I took in my career,” said Perez.
His first year he worked with a youth probation program, and enjoyed working with trouble makers. From there he was hired to run a community art program through Arizona State University. His services lasted two semesters but his career only got bigger from there.
After randomly submitting a shoe design for Bucketfeet, artist designed canvas shoes, Perez ended up making it to the top 10 and won the contest. “[I] just submitted [the shoe design] randomly, I thought it was a dope idea but didn’t really think it would work out,” said Perez.
If you are a struggling artist, want to learn more about Joseph “Sentrock” Perez, or are just trying to find yourself this speech may be something you don’t want to miss.
Perez hopes to, “Just empower them (students) to find their voice and feel empowered to be themselves, to be genuine.”
