PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
CARLO MEJIA
Age: 72
Lives in: Port St. Lucie
Occupation: artist
Family: “My wife, Ana, makes
me clean up my mess when I
work. We have four children and
five grandchildren.”
Education: Schools of art in El
Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Europe and the United
States
Hobbies: “No time! – but I do write short histories for Latino
magazines.”
Who/what inspires me: “The shamans in my family who
taught me about being both human and spirit, about the
beautiful quetzal bird.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “My grandson,
Carlo Mejia III, plans to film a documentary about me
You can see Mejia’s work each Saturday morning at the Downtown Farmer’s
Market in Fort Pierce (southwest corner). Here, woodworking artist George
Hewitt discusses a ceramic piece with him.
FORT
but mostly, finding his own artistic identity through drawing,
painting, and sculpture.
He and the other Central American artists struggled as they
studied in Europe.
“I would sell small porcelain pieces and be rich in the moment,
so I’d buy food for us,” he recalls. “The money didn’t
matter as much then.”
Back in his country, financial considerations grew along
with his family. When civil war broke out in 1980, the Mejias
brought one suitcase to the United States, leaving everything
else behind. “My studio, my work there, were casualties of
war. It was all destroyed.”
Initially, the family lived in Virginia. With a few partners,
he owned a gallery in Washington, D.C. His work has been
commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute; he has won international
awards. Private and corporate collectors around the
world, even royalty, own Carlo Mejia’s work. But he has also
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Port St. Lucie Magazine 47
and my art.”
PIERCE
/www.aycockportstlucie.com