PANORAMA CITY, Calif. – His paintings are the work of a master. Manny Velazquez, one of the best-known muralists in the San Fernando Valley, has been working at his craft for 45 years.  

Creating murals was actually his first job and now he has a new one. Velazquez is teaching public art at Panorama High School. It is a career technical education course, but his career isn’t just about painting.

“I’m a storyteller. I just tell it through mural painting," Velazquez said. "Public art is sharing stories, human stories, American stories.”

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This is his first year in a classroom, but the Pacoima native has been working with young people in his community for a long time.

“I was a gang intervention worker for many years," Velazquez said. "So I buried a lot of kids.  I’ve had three young people pass away in my arms.”

It took a toll on him emotionally and physically and eventually led to a heart attack.

“Just from the stress, the tension," Velazquez said. "Knowing these kids and the potential that they had was taken away. Eventually it all caught up to me.”

 Velazquez slowed down for a bit, to care for himself and his aging parents, both of whom suffered from dementia in their final years.  He often worked with his mom, collaborating on Día de los Muertos events.

“She was my inspiration," Velazquez said, "and it’s kind of her energy, her vibe that I keep afloat and just passing that on to these kids.”  

More than any particular skill he wants to teach them about the importance of college; plant the seed, he says, that they need to be college ready.  It is the central theme of one of the murals he painted at the school before he was hired as a teacher.

“My role as a teacher is to be an advocate, to be their cheerleader," Velazquez said. "I can’t hold their hands but I can cheer for them.”

Principal Dr. Rafael Gaeta says he is having an impact on students well beyond the classroom.  

"There’s an improvement in attendance, they come to school more often and also their grades," Gaeta said.

Next up, Velazquez and his students will tackle a hallway full of blank walls. Velazquez says when the kids are working on a mural, they are so silent, you would think it was a library. Whatever issues they have outside of school melt away.  

It is the kind of escape he hopes his art brings to anyone who passes by.

“Art is healing," Velazquez said, "and through public art we bring a lot of healing to the community.”

A lesson he has learned and is now passing on to the next generation of storytellers.