She mastered engraving techniques under Leopoldo Mendez, Pablo O'Higgins and her future husband, Arturo García Bustos, while assisting at the Taller de Grafica Popular.

In 1947, Rina began work with Rivera on the fresco Paseo Dominical en la Alameda, in the Hotel del Prado. She assisted on numerous projects including the mural in the Lerma Water Intake Station, in Chapultepec, and the mosaic of natural rock at the Olympic Stadium at the University of Mexico. Their association lasted 10 years, until his death in 1957.

Diego once wrote, "Rina Lazo, a painter of great talent. My beloved friend, my right hand... the best of my assistants." Rivera also stated that Rina possessed a manner "that allowed her to collaborate with me to the point that later, I could not distinguish, on my own fresco, the areas that I had painted..."

Murals by Rina are on public display throughout Mexico and Guatemala. In 1948, she painted the mural, Zapata, at the Primary School in Morelos. The following year, she completed The Four Elements in Mexico City. In 1953, Rina painted the fresco Tierra Fertil at the Museum of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala.

In 1966, she reproduced paintings from the ruins of the temple at Bonampak. At the ruins, she made drawings of the Mayan images, then faithfully reproduced them as frescos, in a replica of the temple constructed in the garden outside of the Maya Salon, at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Her mural, Venerable Abuelo Maiz, prominently displayed in the Maya Salon, was inaugurated in 1994.

Her work is part of permanent collections in Mexico, including the University of Contemporary Art and the Museum of the State of Mexico; and in Guatemala, at the University Museum of San Carlos and the Museum of Modern Art. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, individually as well as collectively.

In addition to the scholarship that brought her to Mexico, Rina has received many awards throughout her career. Among the more prominent is the medal and diploma "Maestro Rafael Ramirez" awarded in appreciation of her 30 years of service to the city, as instructor at the National Institute of the Fine Arts. In 1988, she received a certificate of recognition from the Secretariat of Public Education that read, "To Rina Lazo, whose life and work is a source of pride for Mexico and an example for the new generations."

Rina continues to pass on the benefit of her vast experience, both artistic and historical, to students who will some day recount stories to their students about her talent, kindness and contributions to the enrichment of the Mexican culture and its people.

Arturo García Bustos was born in Mexico City in 1926. His grandfather is nineteenth-century painter Hermenegildo Bustos.

In 1942, La Esmerelda School of Painting and Sculpture opened with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and other well-known artists as faculty. In this setting began the career of Arturo García Bustos.

When Frida's failing health no longer allowed her to continue teaching at the school, she invited the students to her Blue House in Coyoacan to continue their classes. Arturo and three other students continued to study with Frida. This group came to be known as Los Fridos, because of their devotion to Frida.

Arturo has said that Frida was "amazing looking. She not only made art, she herself was a work of art." He also admits, "We were all in love with Frida. She had a special grace and attraction. She was so 'allegre' that she made poetry around her." Bustitos, as Frida called him, was with her every day during one of her most creative periods, 1943 to 1945.

Through Frida and Diego, Arturo would meet his future wife, Guatemalan painter Rina Lazo. Rina was the favorite assistant of Diego Rivera. Both Arturo and Rina speak affectionately of their association with the Maestro Rivera and La Maestra Frida.

After Frida's death, Diego Rivera wrote: "Frida shaped students who today figure among the valued men and women artists of Mexico. She always encouraged them to preserve and develop their personalities in their work and in the social and political clarification of their ideas."

Arturo's experience as a muralist began while assisting Diego Rivera. Since 1947, he has painted numerous murals at sites which include the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Salon of Oaxaca in the National Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of Graphic Art in Moscow. Arturo and Rina recently completed a mural in Italy.

Arturo is a Master Graphic Artist, having studied engraving in China and Korea. He was a student of lithography and engraving under Leopoldo Mendez, and completed additional studies at the Academy of Plastic Arts at the National Autononmous University of Mexico. A retrospective of his graphic work was held at the prestigious National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City.

His work has been exhibited individually and collectively, in museums and galleries throughout Mexico, the United States, Europe and Asia. Arturo has also been the recipient of numerous awards worldwide.

Arturo has been a founding member of many academies and workshops, where he encourages students not only to be artists, but to be artistic. His talent, kindness and generosity will long be remembered by the next generation of Mexican artists.

His vision is simple and hopeful. It speaks to the common people of values and struggles. It inspires and encourages. One is enriched in the presence of his work.

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