Lillian Aguinaga: New Orleans Figurative Painter and Community-Centered Artist

Feb 24

By Veronica Cross

*People for Public Art, “Gumbo Botanica – Mikale detail”, 2024*

Lillian Aguinaga uses her platform as a visual artist to uplift others in her narrative studio portraits and monumental mural work where her subjects literally reach the height of buildings. Aguinaga earned her BFA in Painting from the University of Louisiana and works in acrylics and spray paint. Invested in storytelling that often highlights women and femme perspectives, Aguinaga’s artwork also elevates the uniquely diverse ethnic and cultural histories of New Orleans. There is often a cooperative component to Aguinaga’s practice, seen in portrait works where subjects collaborate on ideas and share intellectual property rights and in some cases, proceeds as well; this common purpose is further reflected in group settings with People for Public Art, a New Orleans muralist collective where she works with core collaborators Monica Rose Kelly and Sasha Swan. People for Public Art’s most extensive project to date is the 5,000 square feet triple mural “Gumbo Botanica” on the exterior and interior walls of City Market, a food court that centers Vietnamese cuisine amongst other dishes, located at the corner of 1101 Elysian Fields Avenue at St. Claude. The mural’s title and depictions of cooking herbs pay homage to the mixture of regional foodways and honors traditional healers with portraits reflect the diversity of the city. With the guidance of Journey Allen, Director of Youth Education of Arts New Orleans’ Young Artist Movement (YAM) and artist Monica Rose Kelly, 15 of the program’s young artists built their painting techniques and learned how to plan large- scale murals as they worked side by side with the collective. Completed in Spring of 2024, the project represents “the first all-women and youth public art production in New Orleans”, and an opportunity of literal representation on the building walls for some. Lillian Aguinaga painted two portraits on this mural – a candle accompanies the likeness of Mikale Gobernado, looking out on the building’s Elysian Fields side and a passionflower frames Deshawne Cornelius “Nae’s” image on the Saint Claude side. On the mural, Aguinaga’s cherry blossom tree greets visitors at the door.

*Lillian Aguinaga, “In the Beginning”, acrylic on canvas – 2025 Official Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indian Poster*

This mural showcases Aguinaga’s expressive use of color, which she refers to as “galactic”. By using complementary colors such as blues against oranges and reds against greens, the emotions of her storytelling are amplified. She uses colored gel lighting in her studio to get this effect, working from live models and photos of friends and community members in acrylic paintings on canvas and as studies for her mural works.

The Ella Project has assisted Lillian with creating contracts for such and for her collaboration with Big Chief Juan Pardo on the 2025 Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indians official poster that features his portrait. This agreement serves as a template that can be added to for additional editions and future projects. Aguinaga recounts, “Working with Big Chief Juan Pardo just felt right. Our visions have been aligned in this ongoing collab. When Ashlye helped in building our contract, she made everything feel easy and seamless. She was really there for both of us and so genuinely gung-ho about our collaboration. It’s super refreshing to have someone that excited to help artists do things the right way.” Lillian Aguinaga is also conscientious of building equity, often sharing proceeds on a sliding scale with her models.

As a community organizer, Lillian Aguinaga, partnered with Joey HD of Us and We Art to curate the Badass Women Art Show at Old Road Coffee in Tremé to fundraise for community-based nonprofit Women with A Vision (WWAV) in 2022. The exhibition offerings were amplified by in-kind fundraising with a performance by Meschiya Lake. Additionally, in early 2026, Aguinaga began fundraising with her “Melt ICE” protest painting, which is also available as an editioned print, for ISLA (Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy), a nonprofit that advocates for just immigration policies and provides free legal services.

Aguinaga’s current projects include a mural at The Village NOLA, featuring a portrait of the owner ‘s sister who masks for Cheyenne Hunters.