Spotlight | Lina Montoya

Welcome to Broadway Stages’ Spotlight, where we feature local shops, restaurants, organizations, individuals, and venues. I honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we proudly feature some of New York City’s Latinx All-Stars. This week we feature Lina Montoya, an artist that calls Staten Island home.

Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, Lina Montoya has been based in New York City since 2010. She is a graphic designer, muralist, teaching artist, and the founder of the LM Project. LM project or ELE EME is an artistic initiative developed between the US and Latin America to exchange “Magical Experiences.” Her work with ELE EME achieves this through socially engaged art for public space beautification and community engagement.

Montoya calls herself a “Cantadora de Historias, Pintante de Canciones e Inventora de Worlds” or a ‘Storyteller, Painter of Songs, and Inventor of Worlds.’ She says, “My artistic practice is driven by my immigrant experience. The murals, paintings, and installations intend to ‘sing’ songs about migration, personal experiences, and stories about communities… Nature, music, literature, and Latin American culture inspired me.”

The artist is still very active with projects in her birthplace Colombia. But she’s also worked in Mexico, Panama, and even Malta. But Montoya has been leaving her mark figuratively and literally on the place she now calls home, Staten Island. The artist works with young people at several public schools (P.S. 78, P.S. 39, and P.S. 19, to name a few). She has also worked with area groups like the Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.

Somehow, in 2015 the artist found time to create  “La Isla Bonita Summer Festival,” a yearly cultural happening that would celebrate Staten Island’s diversity. The festival promotes accessible, family-friendly, local, and global arts and culture.

The yellow butterfly is a signature motif you can spot in her work across Staten Island and beyond. She also has tote bags and other merchandise to support her work. The most popular lines are The Butterfly Project and her Las Molas Collection. You can also follow the artist’s work on both Instagram and Twitter.

Montoya says, “We all have the power to transform, inspire, and change society-at-large creating a positive impact in our world.”