Robert Vargas

Robert Vargas is an American contemporary artist based in Los Angeles, known for large-scale freehand murals and mixed-media portrait work. His murals and portraits appear on prominent buildings across downtown Los Angeles and in cities in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Raised in Boyle Heights, Vargas studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and later at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He is also known for Our Lady of DTLA. In 2024, he completed LA Rising, a 150-foot Shohei Ohtani mural on the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo, and later that year painted large public tributes to pitcher Fernando Valenzuela in Boyle Heights and at Dodger Stadium.

Early life and education Vargas was raised in Boyle Heights. The same year, he collaborated with NBC Peacock in developing visual content that highlighted Chicano and Mexican American cultural themes for the platform's brand identity and promotional materials. In 2019, Vargas painted a mural of Mötley Crüe on the façade of the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood to coincide with the release of the Netflix biopic The Dirt. In 2021, he created Long Live the King, a 17-foot-tall mural honoring Eddie Van Halen on the exterior wall of Guitar Center on the Sunset Strip.

In March 2024, Vargas completed LA Rising, a large-scale mural of baseball player Shohei Ohtani on the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo. Following the death of Fernando Valenzuela in 2024, Vargas painted memorial murals honoring the pitcher in Boyle Heights and at Dodger Stadium.

Vargas has also painted major murals for organizations engaged in food justice and health care, including Project Angel Food, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Food for Health program, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Actor and activist Edward James Olmos has praised Vargas's work, saying that he "brings a deep humanity to everything he does, anywhere in the world." He has also supported the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Food for Health program, which addresses food insecurity for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Following the Eaton Fire, Vargas assisted with recovery efforts by creating art to support displaced families and participating in community relief activities in the affected Los Angeles County areas. He has supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Children's Hospital Los Angeles through art donations and participation in charity events.

Honors In 2021, the Los Angeles City Council proclaimed September 8 as Robert Vargas Day in the City of Los Angeles.

In 2024, Vargas received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Art Center College of Design and delivered the commencement address at the college's spring graduation. That same year, he received the Excellence in the Arts Award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

In 2026, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proclaimed January 24 as Robert Vargas Day in Los Angeles County.