El cumbiandero

Refran: "When my accordion plays,  

The night begins, fading the day away"

Card Description: For my Loteria Card I wanted to share my thoughts on the cultural background that a foreign genre made in Mexico.   I chose cumbia as a subject matter because I feel like it plays a big part in the world not only for Mexico but for a lot of countries in the world.   The colors in the piece represent compassion for pink, happiness for yellow, fearless for black, purity for baby blue, wisdom for gray, and peace for white.   The images in the piece represent freedom with not only your body but with your mind and free of judgement and of stress along with happiness and peace.   For me personally, this card represents my childhood, a culture, and my first introduction to music. This card carries a deep meaning to me and for that this card will forever hold a special place in my heart.   I want the audience to see music can be used in many forms like relaxation, to dance, to feel joy, and just to have fun and be yourself.  I want my audience to see that not only is a song a recording but a piece of art and hard work which should be valued and have been valued.

Student Biography: My name is Alvaro, and I am a senior at Santa Maria High School. I live in Santa Maria, California with my sister and 2 brothers. My family is from Nayarit, Mexico. In my Loteria card, I chose to represent the cultural background that cumbia has made in Mexico. What inspired me to draw my Loteria card was How a genre of music that originated from Colombia made a big impact in Mexico and a lot of countries, I grew up with this music and it holds a very special place in my heart not only for me but to anyone who grew up listening to this type of music. In Santa Maria there are only some who know how to dance cumbias since there are only used to dancing Banda. I realized it when I wanted to dance with people cumbia with my friends yet they didn’t know how to, shows how every state in Mexico has different tastes not only in music but in foods also. The artistic process was interesting since I had an idea where to start since there are a lot of things I can address but it’s like having a flashback which made this painting very enjoyable to make. Life after high school will be very busy since I will pursue what I love so much, MUSIC!! I will try my very best to be big in the music industry and make my parents proud while living life. I know that I will reach my goal because I am a very persistent person that won’t take failure as an answer and all because of what I grew up listening to, cumbia is not only the music that brings me back to my childhood but it was my introduction to music