Women Who Inspire Wednesday: ChaCha Flores
Written by Program Coordinator, Chris Schnell
Anchorage-based artist and community advocate ChaCha Flores is as vibrant and dynamic as the murals she paints. Known for her custom tattoos, captivating face painting, and raw authenticity, ChaCha’s story is one of resilience, transformation, and fierce self-expression.
Born in Anchorage but raised between Alaska, Guadalajara (Mexico), and Bakersfield, California, ChaCha’s childhood was filled with cultural contrast and frequent movement. “We kind of got passed around as kids,” she shares, describing summers spent with family in Mexico and California. While these transitions were challenging, they gave her a wide-lensed view of the world. “From a little girl’s perspective, it was wide.”
Growing up in Anchorage, ChaCha attended Stellar Secondary School and later graduated from West High School in 2007. She went on to earn her medical assistant certification and became the first in her family to graduate both high school and college. “I’m not trying to do this to make myself look better,” she said, “but I want to show my younger cousins that it’s possible.”
Her path hasn’t been easy. From surviving childhood trauma to facing housing insecurity as a teenager, ChaCha channeled her pain into her art. “I was a rebel artist before I even knew it,” she says. Her first tattoo was self-administered at age 8, and she started tattooing others by 9. “I was angry. I had been through a lot, and art was my way out.”
ChaCha credits much of her early inspiration to the face painter and performer Nemo the Clown. “She taught me how to make people smile,” ChaCha says, recalling their gig partnerships at birthday parties and events. The joy on kids’ faces when they saw her creations lit a fire that continues to fuel her work today.
Over the years, ChaCha has evolved into a full-time custom artist—balancing tattooing, face painting, mural work, and community events. Her work isn’t just artistic—it’s healing. “I’m not just doing this for money. I’m doing it to give back,” she explains. Her recent public art project in Whittier expanded from two murals to ten due to overwhelming community response.
She’s also deeply influenced by her time helping at her mother’s daycare for special needs children. “It taught me empathy and responsibility. I became a bully of bullies at school because I couldn’t stand seeing kids get picked on.”
Therapy also played a pivotal role in ChaCha’s journey. She describes her former therapist as a compassionate and empowering figure who helped her rediscover her sense of worth. During one session, he encouraged her to embrace her identity unapologetically, a message that she continues to take with her to this day.
ChaCha’s personal mantra, “I want to be the person in this world, who I didn’t have” is something that continues to drive her every day. She also lives by the quote, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.”
When asked how she defines success, her answer is simple: “I love what I do. I wake up and feel good about my day. That’s success to me.”
Her message to young women? “No is a sentence. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for your boundaries.”
ChaCha is currently working on more public art in Whittier, collaborating with Color Me Fun, and hosting tattoo parties where she blends art, music, and food into communal healing spaces. “I want to be who I didn’t have growing up,” she says. And that, in every sense, is exactly who she is.