Giving back to the community is very important to professional painting contractor Juan Vásquez.
Vásquez is the founder and co-owner of Illusions Painting Inc. Headquartered in Sand City, California, the company has been serving the Monterey Bay area since 2007, earning a Better Business Bureau A+ Rating, annual Gold Star Rewards, and a 2013 Longevity Award for its work in the residential and commercial painting markets.
In February, Vásquez (pictured at left) and his business partner Jose Hernandez had the opportunity to take part in the first annual PCA Expo Paint It Forward event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The project was the renovation of the Gateway Center in the Gibson Health Hub, a community resource with offerings including a women’s shelter, overnight beds, and addiction and psychiatric treatment. About 400 volunteers participated in the event, which was held in conjunction with the 2023 PCA Expo national painting industry convention. Volunteers were divided into teams to tackle the work, which encompassed four stories and had to be done in one day.
Vásquez and Dave Scaturro of Alpine Painting in Paterson, New Jersey, were assigned to lead the team painting the temporary living quarters in the building. Both are active PCA members, and their expertise and project management skills were soon called upon at the Gateway Center.
“When we got there, everybody was like, grab a bucket, grab your paint, and let’s start painting,” Vásquez says. “About two hours into the task, we realized that some of these people had never painted before. So, we had to change gears and say, okay, now how should we do this? We had to improvise, move some people around so that we could get the task done. And, you know,” he adds with a laugh, “we’re used to doing that on our job sites.”
After being involved with the PCA for the past five years, Vasquez says it was nice to work on this project with people from all over the country.
“It was a very cool experience,” he says. “Everyone was so committed to getting as much done as possible. I haven’t worked so hard in a while. But everyone’s mood was great. You’re getting to work for the first time with people you’ve met at previous Expos and events, so we had fun seeing who the best painter was and joking around with one another: ‘Oh, you missed a spot!’”
Vásquez and his team at Illusions Painting have also been involved in other efforts to give back to the community, including a charity project called Remodel for a Reason that was started in 2020 by Ray Rahni of Paint Track Painting Services in Westchester County, New York.
The mission was to give back to frontline and essential workers during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with painting services donated to 10 individuals. The program has since been expanded across the country and rebranded with the PCA’s Paint it Forward efforts.
Vásquez says that any painter who gets the opportunity should absolutely participate in future Paint It Forward events.
“I believe that every time we give back, it’s rewarding,” he says. “It’s amazing to be part of a group so massive and talented and do something good for others at the same time.”
This article was published in the Summer 2023 issue of Pintor Pro. Story by Mike Starling, Pintor Pro editorial director. ©2023 Randall Reilly. Photography reprinted courtesy Illusions Painting.
