MAR CORTEZ

Mar Cortez is a Vancouver-based public artist and muralist whose work explores cultural identity, Filipino heritage, and community storytelling through murals, sculpture, and participatory art projects. Her practice centers on creative placemaking, transforming public spaces into sites of cultural reflection, collective memory, and shared experience.

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Cortez’s public artworks have been commissioned by municipalities, cultural organizations, and community partners across Canada and internationally. Her murals and installations have appeared through programs such as Vancouver’s Astro Arts Festival, PoMo's Art Out Side, and Project Muralize, as well as artist residencies and exhibitions in the Philippines.

 

Drawing from Filipino mythology, Baybayin script, and diasporic narratives, her work bridges contemporary public art with ancestral knowledge and cultural symbolism.

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Alongside her public art practice, Cortez facilitates Baybayin and community art workshops across Canada and the Philippines, working with schools, festivals, and cultural institutions. Through these programs she creates opportunities for communities to engage with art-making as a way of exploring identity, heritage, and belonging in shared public space.