Meet Mr B Baby, the Latina Muralist Addressing Mental Health

The first thing to know about Michelle Ruby Guerrero is this: everything she creates, she creates with a Latino twist. Known as Mr B Baby in the art world—she is a muralist based in Southern California.

“With all the gentrification going on, I like to have murals that represent our culture, especially in places like East Los, where it’s very Latino dominated,” she says on LatiNation’s docu-series, Storytellers. “I want people to see my murals and feel a sense of representation and feel proud of their culture.”

She was raised in Chula Vista with a Puerto Rican mom and a Mexican dad. And when she started painting with acrylics as a teenager, she knew she’d found her purpose in life.

Mr B Baby

Her pieces are quite large, and they tell even larger stories. Filled with many characters, they add whimsical, cultural backdrops to neighborhoods in Los Angeles, San Diego, Japan, and Australia.

For Mr B Baby, it’s especially important that her works also conjure up conversations about mental health.

“Growing up, I didn’t have a safe space to talk about mental health,” she says. “My family dismissed me. They didn’t necessarily believe in depression or anxiety. I had it really bad to the point where I was held back a grade because I didn’t speak.”

Now, a full-time artist, Mr B Baby uses her art to address mental health and in a way that kids understand.

She’s created a cast of characters that show up in almost all her works: Chucho, a stuffed piñata who represents resiliency; Chaco, a horse with butterflies in his stomach who represents anxiety; and three Maria dolls, who represent her Mexican heritage, her inner child, and her daughter.

“Work and motherhood: when you’re exceeding in one, you’re a little bit neglecting the other, and it’s this constant guilt that I carry,” she says. “But at the end of the day, I try to remind myself that, you know, through all this work, I’m ultimately doing it for my daughter.”

Before Mr B Baby became a mother, she struggled with a drug addiction. So, she understands firsthand how to overcome challenges, and her art inspires others to do the same.

“I’ve been to places I never would have dreamed of going, but my art took me there,” she says. “So, it’s just been this dream state where sometimes I have to pinch myself to be like, is this real?”

Today, she is consistently balancing motherhood and artistry, leaving a mark on Latino culture as she goes. Watch her episode of Storytellers to get to know her even better.