“A Day in the Life” with: Visual Artist Maya Corona

July 29, 2026 Emilea Semancik Arts, Visual Arts

If you haven’t met Maya Corona yet, you’ve definitely seen her bold, neon art transforming Calgary’s urban spaces. A Mexican-Canadian visual artist, graphic designer, and muralist, Maya possesses a bubbly personality and colourful roots that shine through every canvas and concrete wall she touches.

With over 20 years of graphic design experience spanning Mexico City and BC, Maya made the leap to full-time art in 2019. Since diving into muralism in 2021, she has been on a mission to make Calgary bright and joyful, seamlessly twisting digital precision into a beautiful, flowy sense of freedom.

Her massive public walls can be spotted across Mount Royal, Crescent Heights, and Mount Pleasant, including commercial works on Edmonton Trail, Cool Drinks, and school murals at Dalhousie and Crescent Heights High. Earlier this year, she was a featured artist for the BUMP Festival’s Road Works program 2026.

Deeply inspired by nature, plants, and animals, Maya is also the heartbeat of our local Latin art community. Whether leading workshops, planning exhibitions, or collaborating, Maya uses her art to spark joy and bring people together. I am incredibly proud of what she’s doing for our city.

Maya Corona
The Bear and Unicorn – Behind the Scenes on Edmonton Trail. Visual artist Maya Corona taking public art to new heights for the Sunshine BIA mural, from operating the boom lift to adding the final textured details.
Maya Corona
The Bear and Unicorn – Bridging Tech and Public Art. Maya Corona using augmented reality to precisely map out the massive chalk outline for the Cool Drinks commercial mural in NW Calgary. Utilizing VR technology drastically reduces setup time and saves hours of manual labor, allowing our studio to seamlessly scale complex digital designs onto massive physical walls before painting begins.
The Bear and Unicorn – Art in Full Bloom. Maya Corona hand-painting massive street planters as part of a community beautification program in Calgary. This project brings a fresh, joyful touch to the local streets, combining a love for organic floral designs with public art meant to enliven urban neighbourhoods.
The Bear and Unicorn – Scaling Up at Dogma Training. Maya Corona on the scaffolding navigating the traditional projector setup to map out a massive, immersive four-wall mural for a puppy training room in Calgary. This project showcases the heavy-lifting, precision planning, and evolution of technology required to completely transform commercial indoor environments.
The Bear and Unicorn – High-Ceiling Challenges in Mackenzie Lake. Maya Corona working on a massive residential mural that required setting up a three-story scaffolding system inside a home with double-height ceilings. No matter the structural challenge, our studio ensures every high-scale project is executed with precision, arriving on time, safely, and with ease to completely transform private spaces.
Meet the Artist – Maya Corona. Maya sharing a joyful moment at her ‘Echoes of Nature’ exhibition. As the creative force behind The Bear and Unicorn studio, her fine art and large-scale murals are deeply rooted in celebrating vibrant wildlife, organic flora, and community connection across Alberta.”
Maya Corona
The Bear and Unicorn – A Touch of Home. Maya Corona taking a quick moment on the drop cloth during the final stages of a custom interior mural for Frida’s Coffee. Captured naturally by the client, this piece blends intricate street perspectives with the bold, joyous colors that reflect Maya’s heritage and her mission to brighten Calgary’s spaces.
Maya Corona
Maya Corona – In the Flow. A look inside the studio where digital strategy translates into absolute creative freedom. Maya mixing a vibrant, custom color palette for a fine art canvas, showcasing the organic, nature-inspired motifs of birds and flora that influence both her studio collections and large-scale public murals.

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Which ’hood are you in?

I’m in Harvest Hills, very close to Nose Creek. It’s a beautiful, quiet neighbourhood where I love to go for walks with my family. I live here with my husband, who is also my business partner, and our 15-year-old twins.

What do you do?

I am a muralist, illustrator, and visual artist, but my primary creative energy is currently poured into The Bear and Unicorn a creative studio I run alongside my husband.

While my roots are in graphic design and fine art, my career has beautifully shifted into large-scale public art, residential and commercial murals, and custom illustrations for product packaging. Through The Bear and Unicorn, we bridge the gap between community storytelling and bold, magical visual design. Additionally, I love sharing my passion by teaching art workshops and organizing community art experiences across Calgary.

What are you currently working on?

It is a busy summer! Right now, I am prepping to paint a brand-new residential mural in the south of the city in Mackenzie Lake. I am also preparing a collection for the upcoming Mush Love Art Show, running from July 17th to 26th, 2026.

On the community front, I am currently diving into the design phase for an exciting new mural collaboration with Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids. We also have a few other large-scale wall projects in the pipeline for later this season through The Bear and Unicorn!

Where can we find your work?

Physically around Calgary:

BUMP Road works: 17th Ave and Kensington
Sunshine BIA (Crescent Heights): 812 Edmonton Trail
Cool Drinks: 11877 Sarcee Trail NW #635
Canopy Studios: 1723 9 St SW
Dalhousie School: 4440 Dallyn St NW
Crescent Heights High School: 1019 1 St NW

Online:

The Creative Studio: bearandunicorn.ca | Instagram | Facebook

Artist Portfolio: mayacorona.com | Instagram | Facebook

 

About Emilea Semancik 346 Articles
Emilea Semancik was born in North Vancouver. Emilea has always always wanted to work as a freelance writer and currently writes for the Vancouver Guardian. Taking influence from journalism culture surrounding the great and late Anthony Bourdain, she is a recipe author working towards publishing her own series of books. You can find her food blog on Instagram:
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