Marta Ayala Minero | Paintings | Collage | Public Murals

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Marta Ayala Minero is a Latin American woman artist specializing in public murals, mixed media three dimensional constructions and fine art paintings. Many of her San Francisco murals are part of the Precita Eyes Mural Walk and her other mural work appears in public spaces throughout the Bay Area. Her paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group shows, including at the Somarts Gallery and the San Francisco Museum de Arte Hispana Contemporanea. In 2023, Marta has had a solo show at Vesuvio Cafe and two shared shows at Live Worms Gallery, both in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.

A native of El Salvador, Marta has been a resident of San Francisco since 1968. Her work combines colorful and vibrant images and forms evoking memories from her childhood, ancient cultures and above all, rocks, stones and water. She follows in the footsteps of her uncle Camilo Minero, one of El Salvador's most respected muralists and a student of the Mexican Social Realist Diego Rivera.

Her paintings are featured in the book Latin American Women Artists of the United States by Robert Henkes and her public mural "Manjushri" is featured in the book Murals: Walls That Sing by photo-journalist George Ancona, which was written for students aged 9-12. Other mural work has appeared in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo edited by Annice Jacoby, The Mission by Dick Evans and Playborhood: Turn Your Neighborhood Into a Place for Play by Mike Lanza. For more information about these books, please click here.

A large part of Marta's work involves the community and young people. She has taught mural painting in numerous schools in the Bay Area and has collaborated with students of various grade and skill levels. She was commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to create a public mural with the students of Thurgood Marshall High School. Monterey Bay Aquarium selected Marta from an artist's open call to paint a large mural to used as a billboard to promote ocean environment conservation to the Latino community in California.

While Marta continues to create more artwork, including some new murals being painted in Colma, California, she has also become involved with the newly founded Casa Camilo Minero Museum in Zacatecoluca, La Paz, El Salvador. The goal is to create an community art center with a permanent exhibit of Camilo Minero's work, as well as additional art and photo galleries, a dance studio and public meeting spaces.

In a sense, Ayala's work falls into the mainsteam of American art. Her cultural heritage is evident in her primitive approach. In a statement to [me], Marta Ayala sums up her philosophy: "My vision is called primitive because the vivid colors and naive representations call forth ancient emotions. They are a vibrant and powerful affirmation of life." - Robert Henkes

Over the last two years, Marta has gotten back to canvas and has a produced a series of small 10" x 10" paintings as well as continuing the mixed media work that has expanded her artistic range. View >>

Marta and The Magic Basket is a new children's book written by Spanish poet Carlos Casas and illustrated by Marta Ayala Minero. The story follows the world wide journey of a young girl to gather items to make the best basket in the world. View >>

Marta's recent work continues her exploration into mixed media collages. The Clay Bags Series began during the pandemic when Marta stumbled upon a stack of burlap bags scavenged from a worksite almost 10 years before. The Thread Connections series all began when Marta found a box of bobbins tossed out in the street. View >>

Here is archived some of the older art work by Marta Ayala Minero. Most of the work is on canvas. Marta has exhibited in several galleries in San Francisco over the years, including the Somarts Gallery, Museum de Arte Hispana Contemporanea, Live Worms Gallery, and Vesuvio’s Cafe in North Beach. We rotate the work on this page at regular intervals, so please visit us again. View >>

Marta's murals appear in public spaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The mural images have recently been reprocessed from the original source files, resulting in photos with better color and better quality for you to enjoy. View>>

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