'He left a legacy': Community honors memory of beloved Phoenix muralist, Angel Diaz

Artists, close friends and family members gathered outside the Rocking S Art Ranch in west Phoenix on Saturday to remember the life of beloved muralist, tattoo artist and creative Angel Diaz.

Diaz, also known as “Mes,” plastered his murals across Phoenix. Born in 1979, he passed away on April 30.

Musicians in Phoenix’s DIY scene saw the “Super Barrio Bros” mural every time they arrived for a show at the old There Space Studios on the northwest corner of 16th and Van Buren streets. 

Customers of the Garfield neighborhood bar Sidewinder were welcomed in by bold, blackletter-style signage that Diaz covered the entirety of the 10th Street fence with as they walked up to the local favorite.

But if you ask Wendy Gruber about Diaz’s art, she’ll mention an unfinished piece on the driver’s side of her van.

“He was painting my van and it got real windy and he had to go. He left his things behind in my house, so now the van is half done. I have to say, it’s really fitting.” she said, because Diaz left his mark anywhere. Her house is filled with his art.

“Every time he comes over he leaves things, or draws on things. He painted a back gate for me. He’s all over,” she said.

Gruber met Diaz in 2010 at a party at Barrio Cafe, the now-closed Mexican restaurant run by renowned chef Silvana Salcido Esparza. She said he was a frequent guest and even got to leave his mark inside and outside the building that housed the restaurant off 16th Street just south of Thomas Road. 

Diaz, joined by muralists Lalo Cota and Pablo Luna, painted the “Phoenix” mural outside the shop. Luna passed away in 2022.

A lively way to remember a Phoenix great

The memorial was far from somber.

A block away, vibrations from the bass in an old school rap song could be felt reverberating across the ground, community members leaving the area holding snow cones in one hand and Modelo beer bottles in another. 

At the memorial behind the art ranch, many guests nodded along to the beat of the music and shared stories of Diaz.

Israel Bobadilla, a photojournalist turned muralist, said he met Diaz while he was photographing him for an art project. He motioned to a print depicting Diaz tagging a wall.

“I took this picture ten years ago,” said Bobadilla. “I still have pictures of him. Still, like, it’s crazy. Here today, gone tomorrow.”

Now a muralist, he said he didn’t get the chance to paint with Diaz, but he did take notes and learned techniques from him to apply to his own art.

“There are some artists who don’t collaborate, who don’t share their secrets. This wasn’t Angel. He taught me stuff out of his will, out of his kindness. He was a great guy,” he said. “People leave that footprint behind. He left a legacy.”

At the memorial, which also served as a fundraiser for Diaz’s kids Mikie and Cyrus Diaz, a few local businesses set up tables offering green chile sopes, aguas frescas and other foods. 

Working Class Cultura, a local clothing brand, sold stickers, t-shirts, roses made from bandanas and lighters, all decorated with a grave-shaped sticker displaying Diaz’s nicknames, like “Mes” and “Mesone.” Some displayed his graffiti crew’s name like “NG,” also known as “Nitty Gritty” or “Not Guilty,” a phrase written on some of his lowrider art.

Jorge Picos, the owner of Estero Beach Tacos, sold aguas frescas. Like many, he met Diaz at Barrio Cafe. Picos recalled spending a lot of time with Diaz there during the pandemic when Salcido used the space to serve free meals.

According to Picos, Diaz and Luna had an office behind Barrio Cafe, so he’d catch up with both any chance he got. They also played accordion together for the occasional party and joked about who should play which instrument.

He has one of Diaz’s paintings hanging in his house. 

“I look at it every day and say, ‘wow,’” he said.

A mentor and an inspiration

Francisco Garcia, who has been making art for 25 years, remembered Diaz as an authentic artist.

“In the art world, a lot of people try to put labels on you. Angel just kind of embraced it all; he was just himself, authentically,” he said.

Competition in the arts is fierce. As Bobadilla said, “the name of the game, for muralists, is to divide and conquer.”

And while Diaz always brought that competitive edge to his art, Garcia said he always showed his support for friends and fellow artists.

Like Garcia, Diaz was involved with making political art. When Senate Bill 1070 passed in 2010, Salcido invited artists and activists to paint murals in protest of the bill along 16th Street, which gave birth to the Calle 16 project.

One of his murals made the pages of the book “When We Fight, We Win,” by Greg Jobin-Leeds. The book serves as a guide for the new generation of activists looking to start a movement — and sustain it. Garcia called it a “bible for social justice.”

After the collaborative mural was completed, many of the artists kept working together. Garcia said many of them had never met, but the effort to bring more art to the neighborhood brought the art community closer.

Monica Navarro (she/her), a Nogales, Arizona native, is a freelance journalist based in Phoenix. Her reporting interests include transportation, arts & culture and sustainability.