This week’s Face of Northeast is Isaac Tapia, a muralist and artist in Kansas City.

Born in Mexico, Tapia moved to the U.S. when he was 9 and has been a resident of the Northeast for years.

Tapia started painting when he was in high school and graduated from the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. After high school, Tapia went on to the Kansas City Art Institute, which he attended for two years.

“I kept painting, then my friend called me one day and he’s like, ‘Hey, I don’t know how to paint murals but someone just hired me for a mural,’” Tapia said. “That’s when things started happening, and that was about three years ago, and I’ve been painting murals and my own paintings.”

Whenever Tapia isn’t working on his own art, he can be found at the Mattie Rhodes Center where he works as a youth advocate, teaching children to use art as an outlet.

When asked what his favorite part of Northeast is, Tapia said Kessler Park Pond.

“I used to go when I was in high school, all the time to take walks,” he said. “I would just sit there and just relax.”