Rialto artist offers words of encouragement for others - San Bernardino County Sun

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Olivia Flores is a student at Riverside City College, she is also an artist.

Olivia is a digital illustrator, currently living in Rialto. Art has always been a part of her life, but she said she never feels ready to use that as an actual career, so it stayed a hobby and a way to release her thoughts and obsessions.

Over the past couple years, she has displayed her work in local galleries, publications, and art walks.  Her participation in those events, led her to become more involved in her community, including by doing freelance work for the cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto. She’s also gotten involved with Music Changing Lives.

Olivia was also instrumental in getting the new mural at the Mayor Deborah Robertson Community Learning Center completed. The mural consists of 11 advocates from the city.

It was James McNeill Whistler who said, “An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.”

Olivia, the artist, has been inspired.

“I’ve done a lot of meaningful pieces over the years,” she said, “but designing this mural was very surreal. Learning the history of the town I live in, putting the faces to names I’ve seen all over town, is such a beautiful reminder that our country is entirely made by individuals stepping forward and making change.”

The project challenged her, she said, “to create a guide for others, to allow others to be creative, and add their personal flair. It’s incredibly rewarding and humbling, and I am very privileged to be a part of a project that brings the community together. I definitely did not ever imagine a simple hobby turning into something I can give back to my community.”

Olivia’s sister is a 2020 Carter High graduate and drawing former Board of Education member and California State Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter hit home for her because she was putting a face to a known name but someone she had never seen. She did not grow up in this area and didn’t know the history or the people that made this city possible.

Olivia wants students of all ages to know, “art is an extension of yourself. It’s something you master in your own time, at your own pace. Your creative path isn’t determined by how many classes you’ve taken or how many followers you have on Instagram, so be kind to yourself and try not to compare yourself to the world around you.”

Thank you, Olivia, for your many contributions to cities in the Inland Empire.

I appreciate your inspirational words to students.

I hope all students will always remember the words of Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

Margaret Hill is a member of the San Bernardino City Unified School District board.

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Rialto artist offers words of encouragement for others - San Bernardino County Sun
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