Inglewood artists – As Inglewood prepares to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month, former student Jacori Perry—known professionally as Mr. Ace and AiseBorn—returned to paint a permanent mural at Inglewood High School United. Community members also helped
On a campus where Jacori Perry once studied as a teenager, he returned weeks before Inglewood prepares to welcome the World Cup—putting the final touches on a mural that will be there long after kickoff.
Perry, who is now a renowned artist known as Mr.. Ace and AiseBorn. painted a large. ornate mural of a soccer ball being grasped by the hands of two people at Inglewood High School United.. The school is the former Morningside High. a name Perry remembered from his past as he worked on the wall last week.. “If you told me that I would be back here painting one of the walls on this campus when I was in high school. I don’t think that I necessarily would have foreseen it. ” he said.. “So I’m a little in amazement about just the way life works in that sense.”
Inglewood is set to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month. and the city’s preparation has spilled into neighborhoods through art.. Perry was among several Los Angeles-based artists who took part in a Road to World Cup Community Day event last month at Inglewood High School United.
At the event. community members painted alongside the artists using designs sketched on portable panels measuring 12-feet by 8-feet and on picnic tables.. The picnic tables will remain at the high school in front of Perry’s mural. while the mobile murals are planned to be placed throughout LAX to welcome visitors arriving for the World Cup.
Kathryn Schloessman. CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee. said the effort was “just one example of how the energy of the World Cup can be felt in neighborhoods across our region.” In the news release. she added that students. artists. and volunteers created artwork “that will live on well beyond the end of the tournament. ” calling it “a reflection of the creativity. diversity. and community pride” as the region prepares to host FIFA World Cup 2026.
A key part of the day was making participation feel open to everyone, not just trained artists.. Juan Pablo Reyes, who goes by “JP murals,” designed and helped paint two mural panels and three tables.. He said the process was built so that people “that have zero experience” could still get to “a proficient level of experience. ” explaining that he handled the sketch and guidance while participants added color.. “I was right there, kind of supervising, making sure that everything went as planned.. And if anybody has questions, they’re more than welcome to let me know about them,” Reyes said.. “But. yeah. it’s pretty easy for them to be involved and feel that sense of ownership and have a sense of pride that. ‘Yeah. I was part of that mural-creation process.’ It’s a rich experience for them.”
Angel Acordagoitia sketched tabletop designs for the public to paint and said the community members “did great.” He pointed to the questions people asked and the accuracy of their coloring.. “A lot of kids were excited to see the live painting. because now kids are used to being on their phones. ” he said. calling it “a great experience for them.” Acordagoitia also painted a mural panel on his own because the work was “a little more technical. ” featuring portraits of his 8-year-old son. a nephew and a friend.
He said the subject choice was deliberate.. “I wanted to focus more on the youth because that’s really our future,” he said.. “So, that’s the main thing about the mural, just about the kids, soccer, culture, community.. It’s exciting for me. because I grew up playing soccer and to include soccer with art. it’s just a dream come true.”
Michelle Ruby Guerrero, known as “Mr.. B Baby. ” said the community helped her fill in the background colors she needed for detail and layered work on two mural panels she designed.. Guerrero said her style is based on culture. and she linked that to the World Cup’s ability to bring people together.. “My whole style is based on culture.. And I think that there’s a connection there with the World Cup and how I feel like it brings together all the culture and just. like. celebration. ” she said.. “It kind of goes hand in hand with the type of work I do. because my stuff is really festive. celebrating culture.. And just as an L.A.-based artist, I think the collaboration made sense.”
The same group of four artists also worked in another Road to World Cup Community Day event in downtown L.A. at Gloria Molina Grand Park on March 14. At that event, they sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table for community members to paint.
The permanence of the school mural was different from the movable art. and Perry said he chose to weave the community theme directly into his own work.. “The idea was really centered around just creating something that was community-based — something that represented the World Cup but also represented some sense of community. ” he said.. “And so what I did was try to create something that was symbolic. very direct in terms of its relationship to soccer and figuring out through that how to create something simple that [brings] into that a sense of community.. And that’s how I landed on the two hands holding the soccer ball.”
The return was also personal, tying Perry’s past to the moment now unfolding.. When he attended the campus—when it was still Morningside High—he said he was always involved in art and knew he wanted a career as an artist.. Now. standing in front of a World Cup-themed piece meant to be seen by students. the wider community. and passersby heading to matches. he described finding it hard to put the feeling into words.. “I guess
there’s no words to really describe it,” he said.. “I think if any artist gets the opportunity to paint at their own high school — especially if they’ve been doing large-scale works around the city. the country or the world — I think that is a little touching.. When it’s attached to something like the World Cup …. you know. a large part of my childhood was spent in Inglewood. so coming from my circumstances
and life. I think it’s even more intriguing.”
A pattern runs through the events: community members joined the artists at Inglewood High School United and later at Gloria Molina Grand Park. then the outreach expanded outward through mobile murals planned for LAX. while the permanent mural at the high school remains anchored to the World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month.
Inglewood World Cup SoFi Stadium mural artists community events LAX Road to World Cup Community Day Jacori Perry Mr. Ace AiseBorn