William del Moral has lived for over two decades in Madison surrounded by artistic reminders of ancestors, friends, and family.
Del Moral moved from Puerto Rico to Atlanta as a child and soon his family moved to Milwaukee, where he grew up. After earning a master’s degree in Art Therapy, Del Moral spent time in Phoenix, Arizona and some time in Wisconsin as an art therapist, but soon ran into burnout and fatigue from the increased demand for mental health services. That was when his wife, Dr. Brenda del Moral, pushed him to pursue investing in his passion for making art.
“I applied for a spot to show at Overture Center. I told my wife I was going to apply for it, and she said okay. I took pictures of my paintings and I applied to it, then I got it,” Del Moral told Madison365, recalling the surprise at how much came with the opportunity to show at the center.
“My wife went with me, and the first thing she said to me when we left was, ‘You told me you just applied to this thing, you didn’t say it was all of this. This is a full time job. This is what you should be doing.’ I said yeah, I should be doing this. This is what I want to do.”
Del Moral had been experiencing both mental and physical consequences from stress and pressure that came with work, even while appreciating the help he could give others. While starting to question what resources and help that could be given to the therapists themselves, Del Moral decided to change directions after seeing the success his art could bring in both wellbeing and opportunity. However, that does not stop him from still using his paintings for the purpose of helping others.
“When I make my art, I try to be in a calm place,” said Del Moral. “I try to meditate before I do it, and sometimes it’s a meditation in itself. When we did the Overture show, I made sure to charge up the paintings with energy healing to affect the people that will look at it in a healing manner. Even if it’s in a quiet way that they’re not aware of, that healing is there for somebody.”
Del Moral uses his art to speak to history, human experiences, and spiritual connection. Del Moral’s piece “Portrait of You” was inspired by the experience of frontline workers during the pandemic and the connection between mind and heart. Painting to build emotional connection helped Del Moral address his own struggle with mental and physical health, and he uses his art to try to stir that same feeling in others.
“That’s why I like the fairs because you see the effect right away, and you see how it affects people right away,” Del Moral explained. “When you do therapy, depending on the client, you could see it right away, or it might be years down the road. You just don’t always get to be part of seeing the result.”
Part of the healing and spiritual connection Del Moral experiences in his artwork is connected to his ancestry in Puerto Rico. Histories of early indigenous civilizations across the Americas are often under-explored and many have little understanding of what the continent looked like before its supposed discovery. Early records from conquistadors and other explorers’ texts show a long history of plans to deceive and exploit native people along with efforts to undermine their achievements and culture to justify aggression. Del Moral spoke about his identity also in Taíno culture and heritage, and how the early colonization of islands in the Caribbeans led to a mixture of family histories and stories.
“I’ve always felt really close to my ancestors, starting with grandparents,” Del Moral expressed while recalling his connection to his grandparents in Puerto Rico.
“I don’t know how my ancestors did it, I don’t,” he said. “I have a grandmother who was African with dark skin, beautiful Black, African. My other grandmother was a dark brown skin Native Indian with big ears, and it’s fascinating. At some point you go, ‘What am I?’ Then you realize, I’m all of these people.”
The history of early colonization is felt in the fragile structures around race, ethnicity, and brings into sharp question of how some of the descendants of these indigenous and marginalized groups are treated today. Del Moral hopes his art also works to leave a message of coming together by understanding how many of our histories intersect along with how our futures depend on each other. Going even further beyond just humans, Del Moral stressed just how important it is that we recognize our shared fate in the future of our planet and environment.
“What I’m trying to communicate with my artwork is that we needed to come together yesterday. The planet is tumbling towards somewhere where all this other stuff is not going to matter in 10 years…Everybody’s going to feel this, and we’re all going to get hit by this. By all, I’m also including the fascinating intelligence on the planet that’s not just human intelligence. Like dog intelligence, how they communicate, and all these other animals on the planet.”
Check out Will del Moral’s artwork on his Facebook page here, and his website here.
