Ruben Galicia, PeaceMaker.Ruben Galicia Vazquez was born in Mexico City and has been living in Arizona since 1989.

Ruben Galicia, Revolution.

Cynthia Flores, Collateral Damage.Cynthia Flores describes herself as an artist by vocation, modernist by inspiration, Mexican by conviction and entrepreneur by motivation. She splits her time between Phoenix and Baja California

Cynthia Flores, Diseno En Piel.

Cynthia Flores, intimidadenlacondesa.

Joe Ray, untitled.Joe Ray is a painter and printmaker whose work mostly reflects a bi-cultural perspective formed by the Arizona and Mexico regions. He has been in the design, advertising, and marketing field for almost 30 years.

Joe Ray, El Boy in Mirror.

Joe Ray, EL LINGUISTA.

Reggie Casillas, Educated Immigrant.Reggie Casillas was born in south Phoenix and exposed to the arts and his Hispanic heritage at a young age. Growing up as the son of a prominent artist and a highly motivated mother, he learned to incorporate his life experiences into his art to create pieces that are visually striking with a story to tell.

Marco Albarran, Che’ Grifo Payaso.

El Podrido, Viva La Revolucion.

El Podrido, Frida.

El Podrido, Pinche Cholo

El Podrido, Zapata.

Martin Moreno, Your New Nigga, New Jew, New Faggot.Martin Moreno was born in Michigan, where he grew up speaking Spanish at home and English in school. His parents were migrant workers, living in a community named Sunnyside. His earliest artistic memories come from sitting in the back of a pickup truck watching rows upon rows of corn and tomatoes form a visual pattern of rhythm while listening to the realities of superstition told by the elders.

Martin Moreno, Hate and Intimidation; Alive and Well in Arizona.

Martin Moreno, Police State.

Zarco Guerrero, El Diablo.As a mask maker and performance artist, Zarco Guerrero takes his art into schools, festivals and to the marches and demonstrations that take place in the streets of Phoenix. Masks are medicine, he says. They transform the mundane into the magical and make us laugh, too.

Zarco Guerrero, 3 masks photographed by Jamie Peachey.

Zarco Guerrero, 3 masks photographed by Jamie Peachey.

Irma Sanchez, Moron Bumper Sticker.

Xico artists at the New Times office in Phoenix. From left: Irma Sanchez, Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey, El Podrido and Joe Ray.

Xico artists at the New Times office in Phoenix. From left, Reggie Casillas, Frank Ybarra, Martin Moreno, Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey, Jose Benavides, Ruben Galicia, Cynthia Flores, Zarco Guerrero, Marco Albarran, Annette Sexton-Ruiz and Mary Ann Rodriguez-Veatch.

Mary Ann Rodriguez-Veatch, The Lost Nino.Mary Ann Rodriguez-Veatch’s art draws from her Mexican culture and the religious images she saw while growing up in Phoenix. Says Rodriguez-Veatch: Why am I questioned or told to go back to Mexico because I am brown?’ I was born here! I am fifth generation on my mother’s side, and third generation on my father’s side. I am an American!

Mary Ann Rodriguez-Veatch, Statue of Liberty.

Mary Ann Rodriguez-Veatch, Torn Between Two Countries.

Annette Sexton-Ruiz, Future of Hate.Annette Sexton-Ruiz participated in the Chicano Art Movement in Chicago’s Little Mexico in the 1980s and Self-Help Graphics in East Los Angeles throughout the 1990s. She began artist residencies in public schools and the Phoenix Center in 1999, creating ceramic piece murals that now number over twenty and hang throughout the Phoenix metro area.

Annette Sexton-Ruiz, Loteria 1.

Annette Sexton-Ruiz, Loteria 2.

Irma Sanchez, Your Papers Please.Irma Sanchez was born and raised in Phoenix — a city that inspired much of her work — and is best known for her political art. You can find her pieces throughout the city and, next year, at the Phoenix Art Museum where she’ll show her work alongside her fellow Contemporary Forum winners.

Irma Sanchez, The Arizona Mexico Flag.

Irma Sanchez, The Arizona Mexico Flag.

Carla Chavarria, SB1070.Nineteen-year-old Carla Chavarria graduated high school last month. She is the founder of IDREAM Campaign, works with the Arizona Dream Act Coalition and owns YCM Advertising Group.

Carla Chavarria, Probable Cause.

Frank Ybarra, untitled.Frank Ybarra grew up in a family that was proud of its Mexican roots but was also fully assimilated into U.S. culture. He draws inspiration from familiar themes in the Southwest, as well as American family life, infusing his subjects with whimsy, vibrancy, and symbolism.

Frank Ybarra, Our Lady of Guadalupe, AZ.

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Jose Benavides, AL DIABLO ILLIGALS.Jose Benavides was born in Edinburg, Texas, to a migrant farm family. He grew up with an understanding that America was formed from the sweat of immigrants and believes to be anti-immigrant is un-American.

Jose Benavides, Bo&Joe 2dayMe2mrU a

Jose Benavides, Bo&Joe Anti UnAmerican

Marco Albarran, Ya Basta IMarco Albarran mentors and volunteers in several youth programs around the metro Phoenix area. He also owns a multi-cultural consulting business that provides direct services to nonprofits as well as businesses and agencies.