Artist Ariana Enriquez on telling family stories through art

In her new exhibit, “Con cariño siempre,” muralist and artist Ariana Enriquez tells the stories of her family in the best way she knows how: Through her artwork. The exhibition is on display Chandler Center for the Arts through November 8, 2025, and is a visual love letter to her family.

Enriquez described her work as “botanical in nature. I love to use really colorful paints.” She uses the paints to bring the viewer in through vibrancy, and then tell a deeper story by focusing on species that are native to the Sonoran Desert.

Enriquez uses the botanical imagery to specifically tell the stories of her family because “as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more appreciative of the moments that my family and I are at home, just in the living room, enjoying coffee with each other or around the dining room table, just talking about how my grandma grew up, or you know, what her and her siblings used to do and get in trouble doing and having fun with one another. Or, you know, how my mom raised me, or how things were before she raised me. And I found a lot of value and inspiration in those stories. And so I knew that I wanted to focus on those for this exhibition.”

She is consistently drawn to how steadfast the women in her family are.

“Just hearing the kind of women that they were growing up in the 40s, in the 50s, being very courageous and bold and kind of having a voice since then, I think is really inspiring,” Enriquez said. “Following my path creatively and getting to talk about them through my work is really an honor.”

When her family finally saw the exhibit, their reaction was priceless, Enriquez said. “They’re very proud. They’ve always been very supportive of me, and I didn’t tell them much about the work I was creating for the show.”

Again, “Con cariño siempre” can be viewed at Chandler Center for the Arts through November 8, 2025.