The Critics

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Cleveland Plain Dealer -Self-confidence is one thing, but a 2,275 square-foot mural is another... His artistry comes in at his level of ideas. By Karen Sandstrom

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Cleveland Free Times -The result is a tour-de-force. A masterpiece! It's probably safe to say that no one has tried or thought to achieve the sheer, rather maniacal Renaissance splendor... There's nothing like it this side of Firenze. By Douglas Max Utter

John Rivera-Resto in the media: Vermont College of Norwich University -John writes beautifully, with clarity, elegance and passion, and he grounds his claims in careful thinking. By Janet Kaplan, Executive Editor of Art Journal

John Rivera-Resto in the media: On Stage Indonesia -John Rivera-Resto's brilliance as a presenter and his remarkable ability as a visual artist are in no small measure a result of his multicultural background and upbringing. By Jane Chen

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine -Nancy Lewis drinks her morning coffee beside a blooming Tuscan garden. In the evening, she relaxes next to the calming waters of the Mediterranean. And she never has to leave her Lakewood high-rise building. Wall murals create the illusion of Italian splendor. The co-founder of Panorama, a Lakewood travel agency specializing in European and Asian destinations, Lewis didn't have time with her busy work schedule to decorate her home. She hired John Rivera-Resto. They travelled to Europe together and drank in the colors of the lush Italian gardens and centuries-old villas. While in a cafe in Avignon, France, Rivera-Resto grabbed a napkin and began sketching a vista similar to the one they had seen in the Valley of Lombardy in Italy: a rainbow of flowers surrounded a terracotta-tiled balcony tinged with gold, much like the colors found in aged Italian Palazzos. Cypress trees, wheat fields and lily pond stretched into the distance. Lewis loved the sketch and asked Rivera-Resto to recreate his drawing on her walls. The results were magic! The ability to exprerience the beauty of history of other countries is one of the great perks of her job. And coming home to Italy, Lewis says, is the next best thing to bieng there. By Diane Dipiero

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Cleveland Plain Dealer -He is willing to endure pain for the sake of art. No one questions the value of his work. By Olivera Perkins

John Rivera-Resto in the media: In Focus -John Rivera-Resto does not walk into a room. He enters it. With a leonine mane of flowing dark hair framing chiselled looks, his gaze captures you completely as he strides with feline grace across the room in long measured strides. Heads turn, men take notice; women unconsciously become preocupied with combing loose strands of hair on seeming perfect coiffeurs. Hearts flutter a little faster. But he is oblivious to it all. Rock stars and Hollywood celebrities have that effect on people. But John Rivera-Resto is not one of them. he is an artist, a great artist. He is also one of the most talented and enigmantic people I have ever met, with a fertile mind capable of sucking knowledge from a sponge. By Danila Ampié Sims

John Rivera-Resto in the media: El Nuevo Dia -He is the most un-Puerto Rican artist I know. He can't dance Salsa, he grew up in an island but can't swim, and instead of tanning, his skin sunburns. But he can paint! By Francisco Molina

John Rivera-Resto in the media: BINUS University News, Jakarta -The often quoted scriptural verse that says: no one is a prophet in its own land, can best describe the career of American master-muralist John Rivera-Resto. The Cleveland native, hardly known outside the city's artistic circles, is a minor celebrity in several cities around the world in part due to the popularity of his outstanding educational website, muralmaster (www.muralmaster.org), but mostly because of his own artistic genious. By the editor

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Cleveland Plain Dealer -John Rivera-Resto, a cleveland native who grew in Puerto Rico, almost steals the show... His dedication is admirable. By Steven Litt, Art Critic

John Rivera-Resto in the media: Ex-Wives Club -I don't know what the fuss is all about. He is not an artist. The man can't paint! By Maria Espendez de Rivera

John Rivera-Resto in the media: Ohio Community Advocate -The feeling of Venice is captured by the strikingly handsome hand-painted murals that grace the restaurant's walls, setting the mood for the wonderful food to follow. The beauty and elegance of these murals alone should quality the Italian Village Restaurant in Strongsville, Ohio, as an upscale art museum and I promise you that neither my words not the pictures above are able to adequately describe the effect that this artist's work will have on your visit to the restaurant. The artist's name is John Rivera-Resto. By the editor

John Rivera-Resto in the media: Properties Magazine -He (John Rivera-Resto) strikes one as a modern day Michelangelo at work. By Ken Krych

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Scene Arts & Entertainment -One look at John Rivera-Resto's mural of outraged deer consorting with mic-wielding reporters, while deranged elves jig with malicious glee and haranguing lawyers gathered at the North Pole, let us know that the sugar is off the plum and the berry is off the holly! By Keith A. Joseph on the play The Reindeer Monologues

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Sun Newspapers -He is recognized as one of the best. By Rick Haase

John Rivera-Resto in the media: His art transcends the image to become part of the public's consciousness. By Athena Vidalis

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Scene - Cleveland People, march 2019 -Rivera-Resto doesn't often dip into sentimentality. He is as much a businessman as he is an artist, and he's not gooey about his work. He says, in fact, that the act of painting is his least favorite part. He is a thinker, a conceptualizer, a dreamer. He is an eccentric artist of all trades -a sculpture, a painter, and actor. By Sam Allard

John Rivera-Resto in the media: The Plain Press -With this mural, Rivera-Resto means to throw down the gauntlet with the challenge: Why not Cleveland? This is proof that it can be done. In fact, the mural is surpassing all community expectations and people from other parts of the city are taking notice. With 'It's up to us', Rivera-Resto managed to hit a cord in the public's consciousness, and in the process he created the richest piece of public art in Cleveland and the most thematically relevant to the community. by the editor

Thank you art lovers for visiting Muralmaster. I leave you with a parting gift, a quote from American writer Dale Carnegie: "Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire?"

About Muralmaster.org

Muralmaster® is ‘an educational site’ privately sponsored and maintained. It contains no pop-ups, sales banners or advertisements. People from over thirty countries routinely visit Muralmaster to enjoy the articles and admire the art. This website is also a great learning tool for artists and young students wanting to know more about the inner workings of this artistic profession. In Muralmaster they get what they can’t get elsewhere: an intimate and sobering look into the struggles of an artistic mind and the difficult career-realities of being an artist.