How An Uptown Graffiti Artist Brings People Together During COVID

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — During the day you can find Misael Rivas working as a specimen transporter at NewYork-Presbyterian — but at night and on the weekends — the Washington Heights native strives to be a positive force in the uptown community through his artwork.

Rivas, who goes by TOTEM, has created murals with spray paint and other mediums in New York City for over 35 years.

While he travels all over the city to create murals, Rivas produces most of his work in the neighborhood where he was born and still lives today: Washington Heights.

Recently, he created a mural of a white-tailed hawk at the corner of Broadway and West 164th Street.

“With COVID, I just felt like we needed something to bring us back together because we went through a rough time," Rivas told Patch. "I figured art could help with its different style, its happiness, just real positive things that create something beautiful and bring everybody together and give us an understanding that we’re going to be okay."

Rivas discovered his artistic abilities over 40 years ago as a student at the P.S. 128 elementary school at West 168th Street and Broadway. In third grade, he drew a Superman picture that the art teacher was so blown away by that they made him redo it to prove that Rivas' hand created the drawing.

"Regardless if the pandemic did hit The Heights or it didn't, I was going to do my art regardless," Rivas said. "I'm always going to do it for the community regardless of what's going on, good or bad."

In the past year, he created a tribute to the frontline workers battling the pandemic in the form of a self-portrait.

Rivas works with all sorts of mediums, however, his favorite two are acrylic and spray paint. He also only creates murals in locations where he has been given permission or has a permit to do so.

"I love that Washington Heights has changed a lot in positive ways, it was very rough back in the late eighties and nineties, but a lot of people had enough of it and made changes within themselves, and started doing everything right," Rivas said. "I hope I open kid's eyes that are up and coming, show them that they can do positive things for themselves, for their family, for their community, for life."

Here's a video of Rivas creating a mural from start to finish.

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You can check out more of Rivas' work on his Instagram page.