Mia Torres has over 35 years of carpentry experience. She started framing houses and building decks and fences at 17 while living in Big Sur, California. Moving back to SoCal in 1993 to work at a performing arts center. She then spent 7 years teaching carpentry at the University of Southern California in the theater school, where she also taught design and painting. Her skills are diverse, everything from home renovation and construction, to furniture making and custom framing for local artists. She helped operate an artisan maker space in Brooklyn for 3 years and has been a freelance carpenter most of her life. Before settling in Joshua Tree in 2017 she was a traveling carpenter/welder, cruising around the US, stopping and helping family and friends with projects all over the country. Although renovation and construction can pay the bills, she prefers her work in the ARTS. “Artists need to create at the same level that society has the capacity to destroy.” @mescaleromia