Art at Pearl: Mauro de la Tierra on Sacred Land, Unity, and Making Art in Public

It’s been nine years since Mauro de la Tierra left his traditional job, determined to become a full-time artist. This fall, that determination took shape in a vibrantly spray-painted calavera at Pearl called Tierra Sagrada, or “Sacred Land.”

A Testament to Nature and Unity

When you look at the calavera Mauro created for Pearl’s Día de los Muertos celebration, you witness individual images coming together to convey a much larger idea. Mauro took inspiration from his great love of nature and from his travels in border towns across the southwest. Hiking is an important part of his process.

“For me, nature is just this universal sense of belonging. This is a testament towards nature and coming together and preserving it, and the importance that comes with that,” he says. At the same time, his statement is also about people. He wants his work to stand as “a testament and a reminder of why unity is so important.”

It all comes through in the skull’s details, explains Mauro. The teeth, for example, are a representation of corn. He painted them different colors to symbolize how, even though people may be different, it’s important to come together.

Places, People, and Ideas

Mauro also brought symbols like peyote into his calavera to commemorate resistance and the ancestral deities of the region. On one side of the skull, a quail and the mountains of West Texas recall El Paso, Terlingua, and Big Bend. Green jays on the other side represent the Southern Valley and spaces like the National Butterfly Center. On the back is a water bird for San Antonio.

He adds: “The monarch on the top of the piece. To me, that's a symbol of how immigration has been happening since the beginning of time. The monarchs migrate from all the way from Mexico to Canada. In that same way, people migrate. I think it's something very beautiful to celebrate.”

On Following Your Passion

Something else worthy of celebration: October 7 marked nine years since Mauro decided to leave his traditional job and pursue his dream of being an artist.

“I didn't really know what to expect,” he says. “I just felt very determined, and I knew it was something I believed in. And I think at some point I realized that I was going to struggle my whole life. So, if I was going to struggle, I should do something that I believe in and that is fulfilling.”

Mauro finds healing in creating narratives about culture and social issues — a process he says has softened him. He encourages aspiring artists to trust their vision and believe in themselves, but also to focus on highlighting the voices of people who can’t express them. “Don't do it for yourself,” he says. “But do it for the sake of the community.”

Making Art in Public

Mauro spray-painted his calavera on-site in front of Pearl’s Pullman Market, working beside other local artists. His friend Zoey Parson helped him collaborate on his piece and push through.

“For me, as a Mexican-American artist, it was very affirming to see such a strong collection of artists who are doing very necessary and important work to highlight culture and history. Getting to paint alongside them, it was cool.”

Mauro particularly enjoyed the people who stopped by. While many people get to see the finished results of public art, most never get to see how it gets made. He likes to bring them right into the experience. “One of my favorite things is to encourage people. To be like, hey, do you want to contribute to this?”

He says a lot of people tend to be cautious at first, but he has one message for them: “If I can do it, you can do it.”

His most heartwarming moment was when a family with a little kid walked by, and Mauro let him paint right on the giant skull. “He kind of messed it up, honestly, a little bit,” Mauro recalls, “But he left with this upbeat spirit.” It made Mauro think, this is the next generation of artists.

The Ripple of Change

Mauro told us he sometimes gets messages from people saying his work inspired them to make something of their own. “I think that shows the ripple of change and hope, like, you inspire somebody and they'll inspire somebody, and gradually we make the world a better place.”

Mauro feels very fortunate to be on the path he’s on today. He says art didn’t always feel like a thing that belonged to him, that maybe he needed a formal education to be able to do good art. But he’s found his own way.

“Being a grassroots artist who grew up painting in the streets, and being in a space like the Pearl now, and creating pieces like this… For me, it's very affirming to be able to share that gift with other people.”

The 2026 Calavera Collection is on view across Pearl through November 3, 2026 just after Día de los Muertos. You can learn more about the other featured artists at https://atpearl.com/parade/p/art-at-pearl-calavera-collection/.

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