The stereotype of the tortured, independent artist is clearly a myth after seeing Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia’s dynamic. The two bring humor and vibrancy to any space, often trading barbs alongside the occasional bout of brooding. “Working together includes a lot of bad health choices, mostly involving food and an excess of coffee,” Rodrigo said.
Nine years ago, Rodrigo needed Isaac’s help on a mural project, and they have had a partnership ever since. Their diverse artistic foundations, spanning two-dimensional to three-dimensional techniques, created some obstacles while synthesizing their ideas, but that soon became a strength in working together. Rodrigo is a metal sculptor, and Isaac is an oil painter who was beginning to dabble in spray paint right before becoming a muralist. “During the first few years, I felt like I was cheating on my medium,” Rodrigo explained. “I would wake up in a cold sweat saying ‘no, please forgive me.’ ”
The pair realized early on that they had something special and together they could start a business while creating visual resonance. Though collaboration has been a learning curve, the duo is lucky to have established their mural knowledge together. After nearly 80 murals together, they have finally found a solid system. “For instance, I follow what the lead artist says, unless I don’t want to do that,” Isaac said. “Which is often,” Rodrigo joked.
Combining two different aesthetics allows for an inventive process capable of highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. “Rico is taller, and I can’t reach some of the corners,” Isaac said. “We help each other a lot. As an artist, it wasn’t easy to have a back and forth with another person because it feels invasive to invite someone into your creative space.” Rodrigo and Isaac help each other with the shape and elegance of each face they paint, down to every meticulous detail. Isaac mentioned a few moments where he couldn’t conceptualize certain things, and Rodrigo was able to step in and help with his sculptural sensibility.
Before producing murals in Kansas City, they were young artists at Paseo Academy, learning from a wealth of talented artists giving back to the next generation. The pair was experimenting with different mediums until they found the one that gave them the most passion. After their first two murals for the Richardson Early Learning Center, Rodrigo and Isaac canvassed around the community to build their portfolio. Eventually organizations like Mattie Rhodes Center reached out, propelling the duo to more commissions. Since then, Rodrigo and Isaac have been striving to elevate each project.
Getting into the public art space fell into their laps naturally, and they credit their former teachers for the skills. Some of their installations in Kansas City include the Kansas City International Airport, 27th and Forest, and Café Corazón. “It felt really cool to be in an international airport,” Rodrigo said. Now, the muralists know that anyone passing through Kansas City can see their work.
As projects have grown bigger and more frequent, Rodrigo and Isaac have brought on other artists to help, a move that not only lightens their workload but creates new opportunities for other Hispanic artists in Kansas City. Other murals outside of the metro have homes in Wichita, Kansas; Springfield, Missouri; and Kentucky, and they try to stick to the Midwest region. “I have always had a hard time with what kind of style we have,” Isaac said. “I know there’s a really heavy community component to it. Wherever we paint, we just want to make sure the mural is from the community and for the community.”
They keep their installations vibrant and colorful, adding a piece of their culture whenever possible. Rodrigo and Isaac also like to work with the wall, noting that some designs need to be altered because of air conditioning units, pipes, and other structural elements. Many of their murals include a monarch butterfly because of its migration from Mexico to California. “They’re crossing these borders whenever they migrate, and so for us, that has been one of the things that we look at,” Isaac said. “Diversity, representation, all those things – are we being informed by our community?” Rodrigo added, finishing his friend’s sentence.
Considering that Rodrigo is from Uruguay and Isaac is from Mexico, it is important to them to include many different heritages in their art, because so many call Kansas City home. “The Hispanic community has fed me a ton of other cultures, and physically fed me too,” Rodrigo remarked. “Vegetables, pollitos, all of these beautiful things. I think it informs us in so many ways.”
Two of their favorite and most meaningful pieces are in Springfield, Missouri. One is a mural they created to incorporate both Mexico and Uruguay, blending a woman holding a rose with a Toro Toro bird. The goal is to invite viewers to learn about both cultures. The other mural is in a school hallway for English as a Second Language students, where the creation celebrates other languages. Rodrigo and Isaac were able to reminisce about learning English themselves and spending time in that school felt like a reflection of their own past.
Rodrigo and Isaac love being able to represent Hispanic artists in Kansas City, but they wish other talented muralists had more walls in the city. The duo hopes to paint murals in Quindaro and on a building on Independence Avenue and Benton. To continue differentiating their work, they are implementing new technologies such as polytech, and adding more three-dimensional aspects to their murals. “If there is a beautiful wall out there, and somebody wants to take part and help out with a three-dimensional, two-dimensional piece, we would love to hear from them,” Isaac said.
Recently, they won the 2026 Chamber of Commerce Luminary Arts and Creative Small Business Award, a recognition of the impact their work has had across the city. They are also close to securing a studio of their own, a space that will allow them to continue their solo work while creating murals for people to look at and feel seen, even in projects that don’t represent their culture. “If there is someone who has struggled in our Hispanic community, we want them to feel highlighted and welcomed,” Rodrigo said. “So they can feel like they belong in the place they have always belonged.”
Featured in the October 3, 2026 issue of The Independent.
By Olivia Mahl
