ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: August 2024

Rosy Cortez is a 1st generation Mexican-American oil painter & muralist based in Riverside, CA. She studied photography and fine art at Riverside City College and Moreno Valley Community College, and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from California State University of Long Beach with a concentration in Figurative Painting. 

Rosy worked as a commercial photographer before pursuing her dream of being an artist full-time. Shortly after, she was selected as one of the first Artist-in-Residence with the Latin and Latino Studies Research Center at UC Riverside. She then branched into muralism after being selected as an Emerging Artist by Riverside Art Museum to assist on the Park Avenue Storefront Revitalization Project.

Since then, her painting “Work Ethic” has been acquired by The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture. Her story has been highlighted in Altura Credit Union’s Video Series “Your Story: Voices of Impact.” And has led various mural projects, including the first community-driven murals in Moreno Valley College and the city of Moreno Valley. 

This year, Rosy received the California Arts Council's Individual Artist Fellowship and Inland Socal Creative Corps grants.

She is currently a core member of the Eastside Arthouse in Riverside, CA, a 

co-working art studio where she continues her involvement in various community-based art projects. She is newly appointed Arts commissioner for the city of Moreno Valley to help advocate for public art and programing. 

For more information, visit Man One on IG @paintedrosy or www.paintedrosy.com