Discover Delmarva Arts: Esteban del Valle

EASTON, Md. — This summer, the Academy Art Museum is opening its doors to Esteban del Valle — a Brooklyn-based visual artist whose work for the museum will soon add color to the streets of Easton.

Using the historic Easton Armory as his studio, del Valle is creating two large scale pieces — and the inspiration behind them is like no other.

“It was really inspired by an old animation from the 1930s that was actually the first full color Mickey Mouse animation in which a band is performing William Tell Overture — a tornado comes through and they just keep consistently performing as they’re getting whirled through the sky,” del Valle said.

All the animals in the marching band are familiar faces here on the Eastern Shore. “That’s another theme in my work that I’ve kind of personified; animals. And it led onto this nature conversation about the persistence of nature, so all the animals are from the area.”

Esteban is also creating a mural in partnership with Talbot Mentors — giving local youth the opportunity to take part in something that will outlast del Valle’s residency for years to come. “It will culminate on Juneteenth where we’ll all be on site kind of doing final touches.”

Eventually, the mural will face the Hill Community — one of the oldest free African American neighborhoods in the U.S.

“We realized how beautiful would it be to do a mural that could actually bookend and sort of face one another like a love locket throughout the community. So that’s really what started the whole thing, was a conversation about how visual arts can form a mentorship, and I think that we’ve hit upon a really fun model,” Executive Director of the Academy Art Museum Charlotte Potter Kasic said.

For del Valle, his residency was all about capturing the power of art and creativity. “I was really inspired by that. I think it’s a powerful image about the persistence of art and creativity during tumultuous times.”

The mural will be unveiled at the museum’s Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 20 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit https://academyartmuseum.org/juneteenthcelebration/

To learn more about del Valle’s work, visit https://www.estebandelvalle.com/