El Más Allá Mural by Panca at New Children's Museum

 by Patricia Frischer

El Más Allá  (A World Beyond) by Panca is now completed and on view at The New Children's Museum (200 W. Island Avenue at Front. Panca is one of the four SD Art Prize recipients this year.  The San Diego Art Prize 2021  from Oct. 9th - Dec. 31^st  is presented by San Diego Visual Arts Network and curated by Chi Essary at Bread and Salt with Beliz Iristay, Hugo Crosthwaite, PANCA, Perry Vasquez (1955 Julian Avenue, 92113)

Panca, aka Paola Villaseñor, is an international artist known for her playful street art, which has appeared everywhere from walls in Mexico City to the galleries of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. As a child, Panca visited The New Children’s Museum and recalls painting the outdoor truck, which was one of her first experiences with painting something on a large scale. Her mural SMILE, currently adorns the Museum’s entry bridge, welcoming visitors with bright colors and playful smiles. 

Born in Chula Vista, CA, to Mexican parents, PANCA is an Illustrator-Painter-Muralist- Installation Artist that resides in Tijuana, Mexico. She grew up speaking English at school and the "outside" while exclusively speaking Spanish at home and spending weekends and all holidays with family in Mexico. Her parents felt it very important to keep her connected to her heritage. She has been working between Mexico and the United States since 2004.

This binational, bilingual and bicultural artist feeds her art from her experiences living and working in Tijuana and San Diego. These very personal yet contrasting experiences fill her work with raw emotion, isolation and nostalgia as it pours out full of symbolism.

Her work has shown in museums, galleries, magazines, Netflix movie sets, on the streets and tattoo design. Her most recent work was featured in a fully published book in partnership with Bread & Salt gallery.

The New Children’s Museum has announced the launch of its first stand-alone satellite location in San Diego County. The 2,000-square-foot Art + Play Space will be a smaller version of the Museum’s 50,000-square-foot downtown location, featuring a commissioned art installation, a hands-on makerspace and museum store. Located on the upper level of the Del Mar Plaza shopping center along the coast in North County, the new space is slated to open August 20.