Life After RISD: Checking in with Alum Vincent Valdez

Texas-based artist Vincent Valdez 00 IL began telling stories about contemporary American life as a kid, painting murals in his hometown of San Antonio. He transferred to RISD as a sophomore and majored in Illustration so he could hone his figurative painting skills. Since graduating, he has been dedicated to using his work to confront injustice and inequity, and that commitment recently earned him a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.” Here he discusses the creative lineage he is proud to represent and lessons learned at RISD that continue to resonate. 

Tell us about getting the MacArthur Award and how it might impact your practice.
They called me a dozen times before I picked up. I thought it was spam! I don’t expect this to change me. I’ll continue to keep my eyes on the prize and keep chipping away one day at a time. 

What are you currently working on?
I’m at the tail end of a big project with the Texas chapter of the ACLU called The New Americans. We had an event last week at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, where I was in conversation with the amazing Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali’s wife. I’ve also opened a new exhibition in partnership with a community college in Texas. It’s a selection of works reflecting my childhood community and showcasing some of my earliest drawings. My love for image-making is as strong now as it was when I was 10 years old.

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What kinds of stories do you try to tell with your work?
It has been my quest over a lifetime to tell stories about people, for people. This idea extends back to my earliest memories of painting murals as a child in San Antonio. I was struck even then by how powerful the relationship between image and viewer can be. People saw themselves reflected in the murals and swooped in to protect them.

Can you tell me a little about your process?
For me, drawing is absolutely essential. I make a point to draw for at least an hour a day. It gives birth to everything else I do: paintings, sculpture, prints. I have work stations in the studio—one for drawing, one for painting, etc.—and I bounce around from one to the next every day. 

Is there one piece you’ve made that best represents your creative vision?
If there’s one image that set the standard for me in terms of its conceptual and technical execution, it’s probably the final painting I created at RISD in 1999: Kill the Pachuco Bastard. It’s about the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. That was the first time I tackled a historical American subject. I was trying to make sense of why the past is still very much the present in contemporary America. 

“With Kill the Pachuco Bastard, I was trying to make sense of why the past is still very much the present in contemporary America.” 

 

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Is that still the goal that drives your practice?
My goal as an artist is to offer an opportunity for the viewer to see the world through a slightly different lens. I think about the artists I’ve carried with me over a lifetime: Ben Shahn, George Bellows, Peter Saul, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Käthe Kollwitz. These individuals offered a glimpse of the world around them and spoke their truth. I feel honored to be a part of that lineage and legacy.

How did you find RISD as a young artist?
I transferred to RISD as a sophomore. I started at a small art school in Miami that offered me a full scholarship, but I just didn’t feel challenged enough. I walked into my advisor’s office and stared at a shelf full of at school catalogues from across the country. I closed my eyes, and randomly selected RISD’s catalogue. I ran to my dorm room and stayed up all night making the [Admissions] drawings. Fortunately, I got in and was offered a full scholarship in the Illustration department. 

What was it like when you arrived?
It was complete culture shock. I was absolutely on Mars. Trees that change color? From the weather to the food to the diverse faces at RISD, it shook up my entire world in every way imaginable. It was the best thing I could have experienced. RISD threw me into a raging river, and I had to learn to swim very quickly. The professors were at the edges of the river waiting to toss a safety line, but I was up for the challenge. 

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Any professors that really made their mark on you?
My very first class was with [now retired Illustration Professor] Lenny Long. There was this myth about Lenny that he was extremely tough and scary. He made me carefully examine what I was doing. He was always asking, What else you got? How can you push your own limitations and break out of your comfort zone? When I realized that, it was game on. I took classes with Lenny every semester until I graduated. 

What lessons did you learn at RISD that still resonate?
First and foremost, discipline. RISD ingrained in me very deeply the importance of commitment and work ethic. It was such a challenging curriculum, and it really prepared me for the years after school: keeping track of multiple ideas and deadlines. That never left me. My path was full of detours and roadblocks. You have to show up and work, especially in the moments when you don’t feel like anything is being achieved. That’s when the breakthroughs really start to happen.

The ongoing Life After RISD series features alumni making outsized impact in culture and industry. Stay tuned for more from our graduates on how RISD has helped to shape their practices and the way they engage with the world.

Simone Solondz / top photo by B. Goldman
November 2, 2026