1986: I and my older brother were wandering around an old roadside carnival spending quarters to play those colorful ring tossing games in order to win a giant stuffed Mighty Mouse. I must have spent five bucks in quarters and all I managed to win was a small mirror with a Molly Hatchet album cover printed on it. That was my first Frank Frazetta painting. It fired so many things in my curious mind. It hung in our garage until I graduated High school in 1993. There have been countless people that have had a great influence on me. My parents, my friends, my teachers, and my critics all continue to inform my work and fuel my desire to keep building things. But if there were some guardian influence guiding my ambitions, pushing me to improve my skills, and reminding me that art can embrace a wild universe and see the beauty in the strange and fantastical it would be Frank Frazetta. His cover art for Robert Howard's pulp fantasy character Conan of Cimmeria led me to read lots of old adventure pulp. His dark-skinned dark-haired hero was the first time I remember seeing a man of color depicted in heroic fashion. When I was a kid I believed that Conan was a Mexican. Howard and Frazetta gave me that. I didn't know how much it meant to me until way later. I am mixed race. I've never felt like I belong to any ethnic group. Too Irish to be a Mexican, too Mexican to be a white man. This odd alienation was felt at home and everywhere else. I know I am different from my parentage, from my family, from a society that that seeks binary truths. You can only be one or the other. You can't be both. But I am. It is part of what makes me something different. Writing, performing, production, and improvisation have all found a place in my toolbox. All artistic skills that me a better more informed artist. A painter that understands how to express pain, joy, mystery, and rage with a word, a gesture, and a paintbrush. I am a storyteller. I tell stories. Funny ones, sad ones, and ones that are designed to a person scratch their head with curiosity. My skills are different because I am many artists in one and I continue to add more skillsets to build even more art. My work is different in that it is many kinds of art combined. My passion for learning more art skills, more art theory, more art history is something that has yet to fade in my forty-seven years. I have found my voice and it is the voice of many. Because I am many. I have built many things. Murals, stage shows, albums, films, and graphic novels are among the backlog of projects I've left in my wake. I can improve on them all. Will I create some great opus? I'll let the critics and appreciators decide that. Till then I'll improve. I'll build more. I'll continue to be inspired and driven. I want the unseen to feel visible. I want the narrowed worldview to widen because I dared. My life's work will have its own voice and its own words. Like the greater and enduring inspirations that have fueled me, I seek to be that fuel for some other talent that feels alone in a world they don't fit within.

"What if Zoro was at the Alamo," a short play about the Tejanos and African slaves that participated in the battle of the Alamo. I've just finished the first draft, it still needs work, but COVID 19 has closed all the theatres that I'd have likely performed the piece, so I have time to shape it into something better. I might just turn it into a short comic and publish it for free on my website. I've been on a publishing free webcomics kick as of late because no matter how isolated I am from local theatre spaces my creativity still requires some outlets. As you can tell my artistic endeavors are long withstanding and continuously ongoing. Art is my way of life and creating content is how I share my experience with the world. I have several other current projects such as a web series about superheroes, a streaming video series about the supernatural, storyboarding a Batman fan film, and by first comic being built by a small team of creators where I'm the comic's penciler and part of the creative team writing the story. It may sound like a lot. Honestly, it is. But I'd have it no other way. When I was a kid I used to produce plays in my garage for the neighborhood. I'd go door to door with programs and promises of a good show. The shows were not good, because they were written by an eleven year old that was obsessed with Greek Mythology. I have always made art. I have always tried to share my art. And even now, in my forties, I continue to make things for myself and others. It is exactly who I am. I have moved about in so many mediums over the years including garage bands, stand-up comedy, set building and design, game design, stage and film performance, writing of all kinds, and visual art. Doing art, whether it's some of my best or worst, is where I am my most comfortable and my most expressive. art is a limitless idea. Art is my existence. Art makes the world a better place. I am currently enrolled at ACC in Austin, TX earning an associate's degree in both archeology and anthropology. My hope is that these degrees, and the master's degree I hope to achieve later, will have two outcomes. One is a job that has a little more stability than my years as an artist, and the second is a better understanding of the longevity and cultural effects that art can generate. I want to be a more effective author, painter, and storyteller. I want to change the world one piece at a time. To remind the people who see my work that kindness is king and understanding one another is easier than we assume. It sounds naive and unachievable, but many have broken ground on these ideas one artwork at a time. those are the shoulders on which I long to stand. Till then I'll continue to create. Until I can create no more.

I performed my first musical in high school. It was a production of Grease and I had a solo. I was so insanely nervous. This was the third stage production I'd ever done and being funny and present on stage had slowly crawled into my comfort zone. I almost didn't audition at all but my friends and teachers convinced me otherwise. This was new territory and I was terrified. Needless t say I did fine. I wasn't the best singer up there, but I gave it my all and I quickly came to realize how much I loved the energy that singing on stage produced. Last year I sang a solo on stage for a production that I co-wrote and co-produced. I was nominated for a local award for my performance. I was deeply honored and I came to realize that it didn't matter how well I thought I was doing on stage, but rather the result of joy and warmth my performance gave to others. I am currently going back to college after years of working in the arts. I'll continue that work but now I'm looking for more employable skills so that I might look forward to a more stable and healthy retirement. This is a sad truth about the arts. it isn't very stable. It seldom pays very well. It takes a person with a passion for creating to last in the field. I have that passion and I'll never abandon this pursuit to create. to bring joy and wonder. to promote healing and reflection. to allow everyone to know themselves better by participating in the arts. That has been my plan for many years and sometimes I hit the mark. When I do, all the struggling I had experienced up until then was totally worth it. Because despite the world's dark cynicism and excuses to be horrible to one another we can all find time to feel and to understand when we try. Art facilitates that. I pledged many years ago to do what I think is good. To promote what is kind and humble in a world that rewards us for being cruel. I admit, I'm not a man who goes to church, but I have read the tenants of Christ and I find them moving and all the more relevant from day to day. "Love one another as I have loved you." That is a quote I carry with me always and I believe it's the kind of quote that makes me strive to be better every day. I want to be a success not only because I'll find some comfort and security in a world of uncertainty, but also so I can have the ability to bring comfort and security to others. The art communities are being tested in these strange and struggling times. The arts have always endured because of benefactors and communities that understand the value of the arts. I'd like to be one of those benefactors. Honesty, integrity, kindness, and a passion for bringing joy are the tenants I pursue in my life. I hope to inspire these same tenants in others by my example. it sounds like Darryl Wayne Davis was the kind of person who did this very thing and I humbly regard his memory as something that inspired people to just as good. What a fine and glorious memory indeed.

When I was a kid I used to write and perform plays in my garage. I'd beg my friends and neighbors to come and sit in the driveway in lawn chairs. I'd make hand-drawn programs and I and a couple of my friends would perform an adaptation of books I'd read or alternate scenes from movies we liked. Being a performer has and always will be a part of who I am and I'm never going to stop creating. Beyond the satisfaction that I get from being recognized as an artist, I truly love how art brings people together as they all engage in forms of escape and often simultaneously in a form of reflection. Watching humans think and grow because of the arts is what fuels my passion for it and this scholarship is a perfect vehicle to produce more of that same type of art. To produce more escape and reflection for people of all faiths, cultures, and creeds. it sounds all pie in the sky I'll admit, but art is one of the few languages that can accomplish these kinds of ideas in my opinion. Stories, myths, movies, and stage plays have at the heart of my passion for art. I've dedicated most of my life to building and creating the same kinds of stories and the same kinds of experiences. I've sought to create newer and even more creative ways to deliver these narratives from Avante Guard, to fully improvised stage plays, to new digital mediums that work around the restrictions and challenges that come with the age of COVID 19. If I'm being totally honest, none of this really that new, but it is honest and sincere theatre and the results of escape and reflection are still present. I try to break racial barriers, I try to break gender barriers, i try to bring to light the things that are crammed into shadowy corners and left to fester in our collective unconscious. I believe I can always do this better. I vow to challenge myself to continue to do so. These are my passions laid bare. This scholarship would go towards keeping me afloat as I continue to create. I am fortunate in that in my many years of continuous art I have found a place in several theatre communities where getting paid for my work is a benefit I get to enjoy. The arts are a brutally underpaid demographic, although I consider myself fortunate to find paid gigs, many of the projects I work on are for no payment at all. these are projects that are either near and dear to my passions or they are of some communal significance and giving back to a community that has embraced and supported the arts is worthy of my time and energy even if I'm going to lose income by doing these projects. I don't consider it "pay to play" but rather as investing in something that will help the arts thrive for others.

I'm forty-seven years old. I've had so many life-changing experiences that I'd be lying if I cited just one that impacted me more than some others. My perspectives change every now and again because I try to keep my perceptions in a state of flux. That is a harder task, it seems, the older I get. But to tell of a particular event that had a lasting effect I can easily choose of the many that might bear telling. Even though it may seem small and inconsequential. But it did teach me a valuable lesson and one that would shape how I want my future to look. I had a friend. His name won't be mentioned here out of respect, but he was autistic. He was also a brilliant, kind, and a good and loyal friend. We partied together as college students and competed over roles in shows, and the attentions of pretty ladies we found ourselves fancying. I thought we were close, but I realized I was the one whose loyalty and friendship should come into question. I was younger, dumber, and not as savvy on the effects of my words. I often ridiculed his passions and his strange speech patterns. All in some form of backhanded praise I thought. When I realized these habits were hurtful it was too late. I had lost a good friend and it was because I doubled down on what I felt was funny. It wasn't. I was wrong. I was toxic. I have to realize I still can be at times because I've carried the weight of that old relationship with me ever since. Realizing I had been so awful has made me try harder to be better. And I know this process will never be fully achieved, but self-improvement and understanding the power of my words and actions are a huge part of getting there. Today's cultural temperature feels like my old clueless and toxic self. Too dumb or uncaring to realize the damage they're doing to the world around us. My old self would feel justified in today's cynical environment where people are convinced that people are just cruel and looking for a leg up instead of being part of a whole. the old me would not even notice how awful things are. In fact, the old me would thrive in this present environment. I chose, back when I realized how awful I can be to people I pretend to care about, that I'd try to be better than I was. I am still trying to be than I am. I know this will be a process that has no end. I know that this process should have no end. The last time we saw each other was meant years ago. he never called me out on my behavior. In fact, the last time we hung out we were out in Dallas. he invited me to his family's house and I met his mom and his brother, he introduced me as one of his best friends, and we enjoyed each other's company for a weekend. at this point we were both graduating from school and going on our own paths, promising to stay in touch and hoping only the best for one another. I meant it. I hope he's a happy person with a decent amount of fulfillment in his life. It almost seemed like I didn't do a darn thing that was wrong. I think differently now. I realize I could have written about the time I broke my leg in a drunken stupor that inspired me to control my addictions to booze, I could have talked about the time I spent as a stand-up comic where my mental and addictive tendencies nearly drove me to suicide, I could have talked about how producing events for worthy and charitable causes made me want to do more good in the world, but I chose to talk about this one guy who had a lasting effect on my psyche. Being a friend is something sacred and yeah, sometimes friends are nasty to each other, but the heart of it is that we are better when we are kind. He taught me that. Because he was kind.

Imposter syndrome. That's what I had to overcome. Being a mixed-race Irish/Mexican stage actor I often didn't bother auditioning for roles for Mexican performers, because I didn't look Mexican, and that people would not see me as Mexican. This image is bold by two-fold. It was the first show I performed that was totally improvised, as a scripted stage actor this was a pretty big deal and very intimidating. it is also the first show that was billed as an entirely Latino cast that I participated in. I've since done more improvisation and learned to embrace my Latino heritage! Peace.

My entire life has been leading to my next great piece of work. I've been an artist of many different stripes. I've worked as a performer, a writer, a painter, and a producer. I've already created so many things, but my ambitions are far greater than my culmination of artistic accomplishments so far. I am currently earning degrees in archeology and anthropology. I am very interested in how art has influenced our culture and what makes an art piece endure for centuries to come. This is an ambitious formula and one that has yet to be fully understood. At least so far as I know. I'll not pledge that a single art piece will change the world, sometimes it's an artist themselves that has a lasting influence. So my pledge is this; I will create until I create something that endeavors to persevere. Until one or a body of my works helps we as a culture peek around the next corner. My ideas I wish to share are ones of compassion, hope, open-mindedness, and the desire to do good in the world. These ideas are not new, but I feel they have been devalued in the cynical atmosphere that so much of the art and media we ingest has become. Don't get me wrong, I am cynical, I am doubtful and untrusting that the culture we're participating in is yearning to be better. I realize this because I'm a part of this culture and I'm very much influenced by it. To resist that cynical nature of our culture is essential to me. Sometimes I try to tap into that cynicism to turn it over on itself. Sometimes it even seems to work. But I know there is so much more to these practices, so much more that can be done to share the good ideals that we as a culture are truly capable of. I want to find new and more effective avenues to tap into that positivity and make our culture more inclusive and empathic. I have read and watched and seen so many wonderful artists whose ambitions are the same. So many have done great and beautiful things to help the waking world wake to the reality that humans should be humane. I won't pretend to be better than they. They, like so many, are examples of how these ideas can inspire people to be better, or at least show others how rewarding it is to be kind and without prejudice. I hope I'm an example like they are. I think it's not just vital for the world to see work such as mine, but also that the world watches as I and my fellow creators continue this kind of work. Continue to find new and more effective ways to produce and share this kind of work. Be the example that inspires many others to do the same. Art is an endless idea. Art is awesome. Art makes the world better.

Comedia Del Arte originated in Italy and is an old world progenitor of modern theatre. I participated in an international Comedia Del Arte festival. There were troupes from all over the world and consequently the shows were in several different languages. I’m sure I missed plenty of plot by not knowing the language these shows were being performed, but I got a complete and satisfying story none the less. It was a wonderful example of how art has a way of breaking down barriers that would otherwise keep us from understanding each other. It is experiences like this that have inspired me to seek an education in cultural anthropology in order to maintain a continued broadening of my artistic perspective and ideas. I’m currently enrolled at ACC (Austin Community College) working on my associate of arts degree in Anthropology. My credits here at ACC will transfer to the University of Texas in Austin where I plan on achieving a master’s degree. My academic goal is to eventually earn a Ph.D. specializing in the art and culture of Mesoamerica. Art is a permanent part of my existence. I've been working as a freelance painter, playwright, and performer for most of my adult life. The representation of culture is very much an integral part of my artistic process and my ambitions are to have a greater understanding of how culture shapes the art we do and how the art we create influences the culture we live in. I want to create art that is informed by academic research that will give my work a deeper appreciation of where it comes from and a greater understanding of where it might be going. I’ve begun early courses in my first language and have started translating some of my past productions into Spanish. Traveling to Spanish speaking countries and experiencing more of their art and theatre would only enrich this project and the projects of the future. Traveling to other countries in order to further understand and appreciate their cultures will not only enrich my artistic endeavors in the theatre and written word but also my visual art projects as well. I am particularly interested in studying how other cultures use to shape and color in their art. I want to learn what iconography is used to represent certain ideas in particular cultures. A dragon may mean one thing to one culture and something completely different in another. To know these things and the nuances between them are to better understand the art from other cultures. Travel will undoubtedly contribute to my own growth as an artist, but of equal importance, it will allow me to further understand and appreciate the work of artists from around the world.

What if Zoro was at the Alamo? That is the name of the play I’m currently writing. It sounds silly and yet interesting. Which is my intended effect. My other intent is that it be grounded in a real and accurate setting for the idea to flourish within. To entertain as well as inform the audience about the contributions of Latinos in that historic event in our shared culture. I’ve been writing and performing stage plays most of my adult life, and now, in the spirit of representation of Latino culture in America, my creative endeavors have moved towards a more academic approach to my art. I’m currently enrolled at ACC (Austin Community College) working on my associate of arts degree in Anthropology. My credits here at ACC will transfer to the University of Texas in Austin where I plan on achieving a master’s degree. My academic goal is to eventually earn a Ph.D. specializing in the culture and art of Mesoamerica. Art is a permanent part of my existence. I've been working as a freelance painter, playwright, and performer for most of my adult life. The representation of culture is very much an integral part of my artistic process and my ambitions are to have a greater understanding of how culture shapes the art we do and how the art we create influences the culture we live in. I want to create art that is informed by academic research that will give my work a deeper appreciation of where it comes from and a greater understanding of where it might be going. Much of the work I do is inspired by folklore and mythology and my academic path is going to make my work more authentic and effective. Artistically my ambitions are to write a series of novels based on MesoAmerican mythology and culture, to write more stories and plays about the Latino contributions to shaping our own American culture over the centuries, and to open several doors that this higher education will surely present as I continue towards my Ph.D. The path is set and wrought with intentional influence.