Lamberto Alvarez

Lamberto came into the national spotlight as a personality when he was involved in the Walt Disney Company's 75th anniversary celebration of Mickey Mouse — the "75 InspEARations" celebration. He was invited to create a life-size statue of Mickey Mouse in his own style, which he called "El Mickey". Lamberto was one of 75 celebrities, and one of only three Latinos, involved in the project. Lamberto's "El Mickey", number 66, represented the Dallas/Fort Worth-based Disney Radio station. The 75 statues were exhibited throughout the United States for one year and are on permanent public display at Disneyland in California. Although the statues reside at Disneyland, they were auctioned at Sotheby's in New York to raise money for a variety of charities; proceeds from the sale of "El Mickey" benefited the "Make-A-Wish Foundation." Mickey Mouse, as a pop culture icon, was visited by millions. Other celebrities participating in this event included John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Elton John, Kelly Ripa, Tom Hanks, George Lopez, Shaquille O'Neal, Jamie Lee Curtis and Andy García.

In 2006, Lamberto was involved in a year-long event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Southlake, Texas, the city in which he currently resides. He designed and painted three longhorn statues, with the help of his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Veronica, to represent the sponsors that selected him to paint their longhorns: Verizon, Sabre Holdings and Aeristo.

During his time in Fort Worth, Lamberto began to broaden the scope of his artwork to include children's books, national magazines and college textbooks. In 2004, he made the leap from publications to fine art and now works as a painter of figurative and abstract fine art, and creator of stained concrete art, assemblage art and three-dimensional sculptures.

Both father and son also were accepted in an international show sponsored by Nordstrom entitled "El Amor Ahora", ("Love Now"), a celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. They were invited to participate in the annual show from 2004–2006.

Lamberto, who owns a fine art studio, Lamberto Art and Design, has received attention from the media for his innovative acid-stain concrete art (www.acidstainconcreteart.com). These concrete creations are an outgrowth of the work he created in scratchboard in the early 1990s, marked with Lamberto's distinctive style of using motion, color and bold strokes. Lamberto explores many art forms, including assemblage artwork, sculpture, music, photography, literature, songwriting and design.

He was also a contributor to the San Jose Mercury News' s 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative series of articles "The Hidden Billions" about massive corruption in the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his hidden wealth in the United States and abroad.

During his time working in the newspaper industry, Lamberto received many illustration and design awards, most notably from the Society for News Design (SND), the Associated Press, Print Regional Design Annual, the Headliners and the Associated Press Managing Editors. Lamberto also was a contributor to a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative article "The Hidden Billions", about Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos of the Philippines, which was published while he was working for The San Jose Mercury News.

In 1975, during his junior year of college, Lamberto was hired by the El Paso Times as an artist and photographer. Lamberto worked at the Times for several years, producing artwork for all sections of the newspaper. The body of artwork he established at the Times was integral in his being hired by San Jose Mercury News in San Jose, California. After five years with The Mercury News, Lamberto became an art director at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and later at The Dallas Morning News.

Lamberto graduated from Ysleta High School in 1972, where he was an active art student, participating in many art projects and contests.

Lamberto Alvarez (born March 21, 1953) is an American painter, sculptor, photographer, musician and author of Mexican-American descent living in Texas. "Lamberto" is his registered trademark. He was one of three Latinos chosen by the Walt Disney Company in 2004 to create a life-size statue to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Mickey Mouse.