Hector Duarte was born in 1952 in Caurio, Michoacan, Mexico. He studied mural painting at the Studio-School of David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1977. Since moving to Chicago in 1985, Duarte has participated in the creation of more than 45 murals. He has exhibited his paintings and prints in solo and collective shows at such venues as the School of the Art Institute, the State of Illinois Gallery, the Chicago Historical Society, and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and Casa Estudio Museo Diego Rivera in Mexico. Duarte has received a number of awards, including a 1995 Chicago Bar Association Award for best work of public art and a 1994 NEA project grant