Homeless Art Collective

Interfaith Sanctuary’s Homeless Art Collective is a group of unhoused artists and makers who gather at a space in our shelter to create together. The collective was founded in 2019 in collaboration with guests at Interfaith who wanted to use art to reduce the stigma attached to living unhoused in our community.

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Meet the Artists

Chris Alvarez is the Director of the Homeless Art Collective at Interfaith Sanctuary. His primary mediums are painting and drawing. Alvarez grew up in San Diego, where graffiti sparked his lifelong interest in fine art.

“Graffiti was like looking at a maze with the colors and the lines all over the place, and there was just something strange about it. I thought the bubble and the block letters were fascinating,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez taught himself how to tattoo while incarcerated and has since transitioned to working with a machine. Alvarez is deeply interested in the technical aspects of drawing and painting and is known within the shelter community for his uncannily accurate portraits. Find him online @crittercantdraw

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