Oliverio Balcells

Oliverio Balcells is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes painting, music, mosaic art, murals, photography, being a teaching artist and a scholar of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures.

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“I’m interested in social themes like history, culture and symbolism. I’m inspired by color, nature and music. The essence of my artwork expresses the energy and personal passion that is reflected in a song, a painting or a public art project.”

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Oliverio has been selected in 2012, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 by the City of Tempe for different Public Art Programs. These include a Maryanne Corder grant to work with the Alegre community for a mosaic art standpipe, the Project PEACE with a mural design for the basketball courts at Escalante Park, a standpipe in Downtown Tempe made with the tile mosaic technique for Wilson Art & Garden District, for In Flux Cycle 6 he painted a mural on Apache Blvd., he was part of the 1st generation utility box painted on Mill Avenue and recently as selected artist participated for the Fence Art for Tempe Art in the Parks Program 2023 at Indian Bend Park.

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Recently he installed a steel sculpture for the Beautification 3D Sculptures Project Exhibit 2024 with the City of Flagstaff and will start working for the 2024 Santa Rita Park Public Art project with the City of Tucson.

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In 2023 Oliverio finished the Western Ave Parking Project with the City of Goodyear installing steel art pieces, and finished the 2-year project with Valley Metro’s public art for the Northwest extension of the light rail with a design that it’s made with mosaic art on the risers’ stairs for one of the stations.

In 2020 Oliverio was selected as an artist for various public art programs in the Valley. The City of Glendale chose him to design and paint a bench in downtown for the project “Take a Seat”. For the City of Goodyear in celebration of their 75th anniversary he was asked to paint a large 3-D heart sculpture at Wildflower South Park for “The Heart of Goodyear Project”. The City of Chandler awarded him a commission to design, with a student from ICAN, an artwork that was installed at a Cabinet Control box in Downtown.

In 2017 Oliverio presented a multimedia performance at Pueblo Grande Museum, entitled “The Unknown Symbols” with original music and film recorded in the Valley of the Sun. The Arizona Commission on the Arts granted him awards to work as an artist-in-residence with South Mountain High School, Chandler Gilbert Community College and Mercury Mine Elementary School in the Paradise Valley School District. He has also worked with Kyrene School District’s Kyrene del Norte elementary school in creating seven murals with students from kindergarten to 5th grade that were painted in the school hallways. He has done several workshops for CALA’s Community Arts Program, Childsplay, Free Arts of Arizona, Xico Inc, Cultural Coalition, Calaca Cultural Center, City of Chandler’s Vision Gallery, and the Heard Museum. He is constantly composing music, taking photographs, making field recordings, exhibiting new paintings and traveling for inspiration.

Oliverio Balcells received his Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from the Univa University in Guadalajara, Mexico.

He currently lives and works in Tempe, Arizona with his wife and two children. His native language is Spanish and English is his second language.