2026 Orgullo Mexicano Award Recipient

Miquel Aguilar is a mural artist whose career spans nearly sixty years, rooted in the traditions of hand-painted signage, large-format billboards, and monumental public murals.

Aguilar began his artistic path in 1967 at the age of 13, working in a small sign shop in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. What began as a low-paying job functioned as a true apprenticeship, where he learned lettering, composition, paint handling, and discipline through daily practice. He moved from shop to shop throughout Guadalajara, steadily building his skill set.

By 1969, Aguilar was hired by Vendor Outdoor, then the largest billboard company in Mexico, where he painted large-scale outdoor advertising until 1976. Following the passing of his wife shortly after the birth of their daughter, Aguilar made the difficult decision to leave Mexico and begin again in the United States.

He arrived in Los Angeles on December 23, 1976, with limited resources and little English. After studying the language and working labor-intensive jobs, Aguilar re-entered his trade in 1977, passing a billboard painting test in Burbank and joining the union that same year.

In 1978, he joined California Signs, where he progressed from helper to full painter, executing lettering, pictorials, and complete outdoor billboards independently. Over the following years, he also worked with Sewell Signs and R & R Signs, before returning to California Signs in 1986.

In 1992, Aguilar was hired by Eller Outdoor Media, one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in the nation, where he painted large-format billboards and photorealistic pictorials for many years.

In 2010, Aguilar returned to large-scale mural work through Walldogs, collaborating with fellow painters and mentoring the next generation of muralists. Among his most significant projects is the Mission: Impossible mural, a fully hand-painted installation executed directly onto the building. The work consisted of three sequential panels, each measuring 37 feet wide by 125 feet tall, totaling 13,875 square feet. Painted while suspended from high-reach swing-stage equipment, the mural was completed using only traditional artist oils and brushes, exemplifying classical mural craft at monumental scale.

Today, Aguilar continues to paint, mentor, and pass on traditional mural techniques—including to his son—while contributing to the preservation of hand-painted public art. In January 2026, he received the Orgullo Mexicano (Mexican Pride) Award from the Mexican Consulate, honoring his lifetime of artistic achievement and cultural impact.

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