Artwork copyright Christie Tirado. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Everything Time Studio, 2024.

Mariposas y Memorias, 2021

Christie Tirado
(Mexican American, born 1990)

Location: Thomas Jefferson High School, Auburn

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Mariposas y Memorias by Christie Tirado was created to remember and celebrate the lives of her grandparents.The Aztecs believed that the last breath of a dying person was turned into a butterfly. And each year that soul returned in the form of a "mariposa" (butterfly) to visit their loved ones in the land of the living. Tirado creates prints and drawings that explore her Mexican American heritage and identity.

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Asia Tail in April 2024 for three Federal Way Public Schools in South King County. Asia chose graphic works that are as bold and diverse as the students, by artists with ties to South Puget Sound. Images of language, people, and the natural world create a poem for this place where students live and learn. She notes, "School is a place where we can connect with new families. And families are always strongest when working together."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Federal Way Public Schools.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artist and art teacher Christie Tirado creates prints and drawings that explore her Mexican-American heritage and identity. Her art also focuses on the life of Hispanic migrant farmworkers, who often go unheard, unseen, and underappreciated. Tirado wants her prints to spark conversations about the realities of the labor carried out by America’s essential workers, and their value and contributions to Washington State and to the nation’s overall economy. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico.

Tirado graduated from Tacoma's School of the Arts, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in 2013 and a Master in Teaching degree from Heritage University in 2016. She taught art to elementary and middle school students in the Yakima Valley, Central Washington for seven years. Christie is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.