Mexican artist brings slice of indigenous culture to Boston

Israel Guerra Romero has painted buildings and inked sleeves worldwide with multicolored dragons, dogs, eagles and other indigenous iconography.

• Now he's leaving his mark on an East Boston school building.

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Why it matters: Guerra Romero, a Mexico-based artist known as Spaik, helps keep Latin America's indigenous history alive.

Driving the news: Spaik just finished a mural at Curtis Guild Elementary School.

• He's among six artists giving Boston Public Schools buildings facelifts this summer under a city collaboration with consulting firm Street Theory.

In his free time, Spaik is tattooing out of Hourglass Tattoo in Cambridge.

• He's tattooed wolves, dragons, dogs or other animals that serve as alebrijes , or mythical spirit guides, on clients.

Israel Guerra Romero, AKA Spaik, is tattooing out of Hourglass Tattoo in Cambridge when he's not working on his mural in East Boston. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios

What they're saying: Spaik wants the world to see the richness of Latin American history in his art.

• "Even for those who aren't Latino," he said in a Spanish-language interview. "If you're English or French, if you visit Latin America and you see this aesthetic, I hope it would remind you of how grand Latino culture is."

Flashback: Spaik grew up fascinated with American-style graffiti.

• He saw Mexicans leave the U.S. and return to his small town near Mexico City and tag buildings with letters, some with gang symbols.
• Once, his cousin came over with spray paint for his bicycle, and they started experimenting with it. He started meeting classmates in high school who also spray painted.
• Spaik soon after started researching indigenous culture and history, finding details he hadn't learned in his school's Latin American history course. He incorporated the material into his art.

Spaik is now based in Tulum, but he has traveled to Russia, Spain, France and other countries for murals.