In this episode, we sit down with artist and gallery owner, Vania Soto.  The Kansas City based artist found her passion in a restaurant in Tennessee before opening the Monarca Art Gallery in West Bottoms district of Kansas City, Missouri.    

“I was the kid who wrote on everyone’s walls with magic markers,” says Vania, “I was just practicing to be a muralist.”  

From an early age, Vania had a strong business sense, selling her first pieces of art to the owner of a restaurant she dined at with her family.  “Being from Mexico, I didn’t like how the art portrayed the stereotypes, and I never appreciated that.  I didn’t want people to see that and think that’s how my dad is.”  After she told her mother about her feelings, she offered her own artwork as a way to replace the stereotypical and offending pieces.  The restaurant owner purchased all of the samples Vania brought in.  After that, she knew she needed to chase her passion as an artist.  

Trudy Jacobson is proud to present Great American Women, a web series dedicated to showcasing the stories of inspiring and ambitious female philanthropists and entrepreneurs. These women are leaders in their field, and their stories will motivate and encourage other women to pursue their own dreams.  

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For more information on Vania’s Gallery, please visit https://monarcaartspace.com/