Art has always been a saving grace for Chicano-American muralist Fabian “Spade” Debora, who proudly represents Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles.
“I always loved the arts and wanted to follow it as a passion. And even through the darkest moments of my life — drug addiction, incarceration, gang activity — I would still be creating,” Debora said. “Art was always the voice that belonged to me, that no one could take away, and my connection to a spiritual power. Once you create art, it’s like the closest thing you can create to God, for me.”
Debora was honored as a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow at a Sept. 18 medal ceremony held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The 48-year-old artist was one of ten chosen for the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts, recognizing lifetime achievements and contributions to traditional arts heritage.
The NEA, which funds arts opportunities and education nationwide, recognized Debora’s art for acknowledging “painful life experiences, people who have overcome unimaginable challenges… (and) compelling us to see our humanity in one another…in formerly gang-involved and incarcerated individuals like himself,” a news release said.
Shared humanity — and the beauty of diversity — is what drives Debora’s oil paintings and large public murals, many of which feature gang members and formerly incarcerated individuals. He’s also the founder/director of the Homeboy Art Academy in East L.A., helping bring the arts to disadvantaged youth in the area as a division of the gang rehabilitation program Homeboy Industries.
“When I think about my life as a self-taught artist without a formal education, and the lifestyle I lived, I was always creating,” he shared before the NEA awards ceremony. “I was coping — as a kid, I would create art in order to escape my reality, and it became my best friend.”
Debora recalled joining a street gang at age 12, getting kicked out of the Dolores Mission School in Boyle Heights, and trying to find his way. He struggled with substance abuse and mental health while undergoing subsequent years of incarceration and gang activity. Multiple suicide attempts sought him to seek an “awakening.”
But Debora was always in awe of the Chicano art movement that was springing up in the mid-20th century, throughout childhood and as a young adult. At a young age, he was encouraged by Homeboy Industries founder Rev. Greg Boyle to “create something” as a healthy outlet. Debora connected with the East Los Streetscapers, a Latinx muralist collective and art studio that grew out of the Chicano mural movement, which deeply inspired him to learn more about his culture and identity.
Debora eventually finished his recovery program and became more involved in gang rehabilitation work with Homeboy Industries. He helped create its substance abuse program, and served as a drug counselor, mentor and art class facilitator. In 2008, he hosted his first show as an artist. Later, he would go on to direct the Homeboy Art Academy, inspiring a space for youth and young adults to “come off the streets and be creative.”
“Healing is always at the center,” Debora said. “Once artists start healing, they can create. We centralize and utilize the power of the arts while giving young people the resources and skills to pursue creativity. The minute you stop looking outward and start looking within, that’s where the medicine lives.”
Debora has since been a part of other solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, won several creative grants and awards, and has lately been inspired by Renaissance and Latinx artists. As part of the state’s Creative Corps Fellowship over the summer, Debora opened ‘Love Letters,’ a film and portrait series that invites audiences to look beyond any biases to see his subjects, who were formerly incarcerated, through the eyes of personal letters and realistic portraits.
Through detailed portraits and murals, Debora said he sees his artist’s responsibility as destigmatizing gang members and ex-cons, revealing “their humanity through the spiritual and physical.” Much of his work also highlights elements of diverse Chicano American culture.
Debora is planning other creative pursuits, including a three-story mural in Boyle Heights, expanding the art academy, and sharing his story with the world. Before the national awards ceremony, he shared his excitement about bringing the NEA medal back home to L.A. and, with the fellowship prize, being able to take his family on vacation.
Boyle celebrated Debora’s recognition as a Heritage Fellow, calling it “an acknowledgment” of his creativity that will “have a lasting, positive impact on his family and our entire Homeboy community.”
NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, also praised the 10 selected fellows. Their “dedication and generous stewardship of their traditions and cultures carry forward their knowledge and passion to future generations,” she said. “They offer us the opportunity to see things from different perspectives, help us make sense of the world, and celebrate our rich collective heritage comprised of our diverse lived experiences.”
Related links
LA proclaims Father Greg Boyle Day in honor of Homeboy Industries founder
Grass-roots effort builds to fight for local people on LA harbor commission
Dodgers Love L.A. Community Tour is a mashup of Father Boyle and Fernando Valenzuela
After years in prison for attempted murder in Pasadena, he graduates from Cal State LA with honors
Fate of mural featuring LA icons Kobe, Vin Scully, Snoop Dogg is uncertain
For his part, Debora hopes to continue being “an instrument” with a gift “to amplify the voices of my people,” especially “the other Fabians” who are locked up in juvenile hall, seeking encouragement and inspiration.
His message to other young Latinx artists and creatives: “Forget societal expectations. The minute you look inward, there you will find your strength. Get to it and start creating. Art is art as long as it comes from the heart. “