Daniel Woolfolk

Arturo Valenzuela at his gallery in Tucson. (Photo: Daniel Woolfolk)

Writing and photos by Daniel Woolfolk

Arturo Valenzuela dresses the part of a rising fashion designer. His pressed pants always match his pressed shirt, which in turn matches the highly-shined shoes that he wears below his perpetually crossed legs.

In the ‘80s, Valenzuela was a professional performer who had aspirations of directing his own musical. A fall in 1989 put him in a wheelchair, but that did not stop him from expressing himself. In 1991, after two years of recovery, he enrolled in fashion design classes at Pima Community College.

His hands have lost strength in the past two months, and Valenzuela can’t hold a pencil like he used to. He sketches quickly with a pencil wedged between his middle and index fingers. The long and elegant figures he draws bring to mind French posters of the art deco era.

“When you are creating something, you want your work to transcend,” he said.

Artistic expression has taken many forms in his life. As a child, he sculpted human figures with Play-Doh and he took up painting in high school. His interest in fashion was sparked when he took part in a fashion show as a student at Tucson High School in the early ‘80s.

Georgeanne Fimbres, a fashion instructor at PCC who taught Valenzuela, knew him as a local artist before he ever enrolled in her class.

“He has brilliant ideas that he manages to put onto paper,” Fimbres said.

His style is influenced by the fashions of the 1930s and by Europe. He also embraces the shawls and bold colors of his Mexican heritage.

“I am going to show all of my influences as a Mexican,” said Valenzuela, who will present his collection during New York Fashion Week in February 2009.

Valenzuela plans on studying at Istituto Marangoni in Milan next year. His classes would be for experienced designers who plan on breaking into the international market.

Zandrea Penn models a dress designed by Valenzuela

The main problem for him is that the buildings in Milan are not always accessible to disabled people. The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, a partner of the Milan institute, is helping find wheelchair accessible facilities for him.

Fimbres, for one, is confident that Valenzuela will succeeded.
“He never let anything slow him down,” she said.

Much of Valenzuela’s time is spent helping others. He worked for 12 years as a volunteer translator at University Medical Center in Tucson, where he received his treatment after he fell.

In 2001, he founded “Cuadro Arte Latino Internacional,” an organization to promote local artists, usually by running a gallery of the same name. Most artists are Latino, but he says that is not a requirement.

During a gallery showing in October celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Valenzuela exhibited work by artists from places like Thailand, China and France.

“I work for the community,” he said.

His goal is to pull the artists from where they are, he said. People visit his gallery and sheepishly say that they are artists. Sometimes, people will say that their friend is an artist.

Many times when Valenzuela asks for a portfolio, he is amazed by the talent and begins to promote the artist’s work.

“I do it for the love of art and to support other artists,” Valenzuela said in Spanish.

At his temporary gallery on University Avenue, various local artists walk in and greet him enthusiastically by name.

A colorful painting by Valenzuela of a Tehuana woman from Oaxaca, Mexico, might be the first painting someone sees upon entering the gallery. Valenzuela paints about three pieces a year.

One day, he would like to have his paintings printed as graphics on his garments.

“I love my career and what I like the best is being able to share Mexico and my culture,” he said.

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