Maria J Garcia is a Cuban-American designer, illustrator, and storyteller. At the age of six she immigrated to the United States with her parents and two older sisters to start a new life in the tropical city of Miami, Florida. After deciding on a career in the arts, she moved to Baltimore in 2013 to pursue a B.F.A in Illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Since graduating in 2017 she has working as an environmental graphic designer at BCT Design Group.

As an environmental graphic designer, Maria's skills vary from brand development and print & digital media production to planning way-finding systems, designing signs, and creating murals . What inspires and drives her design work the most is strengthening the lasting connections between people and the environments they inhabit.

Volunteer Activities 
This past November 2020 - March 2021 Maria volunteered for the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) in Baltimore, MD, where she focused her efforts and skills in graphic design for the Lady Day Way project. "Lady Day Way" is the name given to the 200th block of South Durham Street. This was the street where Billie Holiday lived for a period during her childhood. NDC's Lady Day Way Project was an initiative to not only beautify the street through art, signage, lighting, and greenery but also to honor the life of Billie Holiday as a jazz singer and activist. 

Maria and the rest of the Lady Day Way Project team were recognized on June 2021 for their work and awarded NDC's Baltimore Volunteers of the year award.

Connect with Maria Garcia on LinkedIn.

View the BCT Design Group website https://www.bctdesigngroup.com/

View Maria's website https://mariajgarcia.com.