BiographyThe prolific painter and sculptor was born in 1961, was raised in Mazatlan, Mexico, and came to the United States in 1977 to study art. He graduated San Diego’s United States International University in 1981 and was awarded a Robert Kanyon Memorial Scholarship to attend Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he earned a BFA in 1986. He taught at Loyola Marymount University between 1987 and 1993. In 2005 Zayas created the Maestro’s Fine Arts Program for his alma mater, underwritten by the Irvine Foundation. He also founded the Dwight Harmon Memorial Scholarship Fund at Art Center. Now an American citizen, Zayas has lived and worked in Los Angeles for the past two decades. He also works in Ensenada, in Baja California, which has honored him by naming him a Commissioner of Arts.