The Art of Resilience: Edgar Camacho’s Fight for Freedom and Creativity

In this powerful episode of Courageous Crossroads, host Jeffrey L. Johnson sits down with Edgar Camacho, a Venezuelan-born artist, journalist, and entrepreneur whose life story is a testament to resilience and courage. Born in France and raised in Venezuela, Edgar’s journey took a dramatic turn when he faced political persecution for his activism against the Chávez regime, forcing him to seek asylum in the United States. From an early passion for art that defied family expectations to becoming a journalist producing politically charged radio content, Edgar has always walked a bold path. After immigrating to Miami and later moving to Iowa, he pursued his artistic career, earning a Master of Fine Arts and gaining recognition as a visual artist represented by Stephen Bale Fine Arts in Des Moines. Alongside his art, Edgar runs a successful food business and embraces his role as a father, husband, and educator. In this episode, he shares his experiences of courage—facing government oppression, rebuilding his life in a new country, and redefining himself through art. His story is an inspiring reminder that faith,
perseverance, and the willingness to embrace change can lead to a life of purpose and passion.

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

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See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro:
Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics, a look into what motivates us to step. Out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal. Story of bravery centered around this question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Hey, everybody, this is Jeff. Welcome back to another edition of the Courageous Crossroads podcast. You know what’s interesting to me? What’s interesting to me is when I think I can read people, and maybe I’m not supposed to do that, but, you know, you can. They say, don’t ever judge a book by its cover, but, you know, you talk to people for just a little while and you get a feel for where they’re from and what their life is like and what their background is and that sort of thing, and you can kind of tell, at least I can kind of tell, what the most courageous thing that person is, has done in their life. You know, if I ask him that question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

Jeff Johnson:
Feel like I could tell what the answer is based on just spending a little bit of time with them. And what I’m finding out in this podcast, which is another absolute blessing of doing the thing is that’s not always the case. You know, we’ve had Navy seals on here before where they’ve talked about the Navy SEAL duties are not necessarily the most courageous thing that they’ve ever done, but it’s letting Christ into their heart and embracing their faith. And we’ve talked to other people that are business people, and instead they’ve had a family issue that’s been the most courageous thing they’ve ever done or something. Somebody that’s in a real obvious kind of a situation. 

Jeff Johnson:
I talked to a friend of mine a few episodes ago about surviving the Tiananmen Square protests back in Beijing years and years ago, and that wasn’t the most courageous thing he’d ever done. It was something completely different. So what an amazing discovery that we get to go through episode after episode, and this one is no different. So I’m excited for you to listen to my friend, Edgar Camacho. And Edgar is a dear friend of mine, and he is originally from France, then spent the majority of his life in Venezuela before moving to the United States. And you might already be kind of guessing what’s the most courageous thing he’s ever done, and you might not be right. 

Jeff Johnson:
So, anyway, Edgar is super interesting and super encouraging, and he’s going to inspire and encourage you to put a little bit of courage, a little bit of steel in your heart as well, and step out and do that thing that you’ve always wanted to do. So without further ado, here’s Edgar. So welcome, Edgar, to the courageous Crossroads podcast. Wonderful to have you with us today. Glad you could join us. 

Edgar Camacho:
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to me to be here and being able to talk to. 

Jeff Johnson:
You and so tell our audience a little bit about your background and your history. You and I are our friends, but it’s recent. It’s just the last, what, year or two. We’ve known each other like a year. 

Edgar Camacho:
Or two around that. Yeah, it’s about. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s about right. 

Edgar Camacho:
Well, I’m here in Iowa, but originally I’m not from here. I’m from Venezuela. Came 20 years ago facing political persecution. 

Jeff Johnson:
You were facing political persecution? 

Edgar Camacho:
Yes, yes. And all my family did. And we have to. Well, at that time, there is my. My grandma married the second time with Miami. He was living in Miami when she met him. And then they. They were living in Miami. And I. That’s the only family that I have that I could go to. So we moved there. And then we. I don’t know, for some reason, somebody told us we could ask for the asylum. And we, through the church, we asked for the asylum and it was granted. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, the church in Miami? 

Edgar Camacho:
Yes. Catholic church. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, so let me. So you’re born and raised in Venezuela? 

Edgar Camacho:
Well, that’s another funny story. I was born in France, Okay. In a city called Montelima. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Edgar Camacho:
My dad used to work for a cement company back in Venezuela, was owned by French people. And they took a group of engineers, he is a mechanical engineer, and moved them to Paris so they can learn the language very well, so they can communicate back and forth with, you know, the main company back in France. So I was born. Well, so were driving down the south and I was born in a small town. I was probably supposed to born in Paris, but I was born in. In this little town called Montelima. 

Jeff Johnson:
You didn’t make it all the way to Paris? 

Edgar Camacho:
Well, were living in Paris, but were driving down for some reason. And, you know, it was. It was a time. Wow. But. But I got back when I was like, probably nine months. So I believe all my life in Venezuela, I’m totally naturalized Venezuelan back in. Back in that time when I lived in Venezuela, but now I’m American. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, so take me back to your time in Venezuela, then. I want to know what it was like growing up in Venezuela, living in Venezuela up until the point where you were politically persecuted, you said, which caused you to come to the United States. Tell me that story. 

Edgar Camacho:
It was. It was wonderful. Venezuela is pretty much like. It was a Switzerland of, you know, South America. A lot of money because of the oil. I live a wonderful life. There is always, you know, in any society, poverty and problems and why not? But we had probably the longer democracy in the governments at that time, when I was living there, like 40 years straight democracy until we, you know, the corruption started getting higher and higher, and it was affecting all society. And a group of militaries decided to go and do a coup. Chavez was part of it. And. And then he was the more important face when they surrender, you know, the government, you know, capture all these people that were doing the coup. And he was the face in the tv, you know, saying, we’re gonna stop doing this for now. 

Edgar Camacho:
We’re gonna fight in another way. And then he went to jail. And through jail, they were start, like, interviewing him. And he got popular and more popular, and he got out. He had these ideas of helping poor people, which I tend to be inclined to humanitarian people, but it was not really the case. He just lied to people. And it was the only option different than the other option of the 40 years. So he won the elections, and progressively he started getting into the socialism discourse and getting the military force everywhere, especially in the oil industry, which most of the people over there has nothing to do with that. They were like engineers. A lot of them study here. In order to do all that in there, you need to have merits to get into that company. No political thing. 

Edgar Camacho:
But when this happened, when Chavez got in power, started putting people, his people, to start controlling the oil industry. And that’s when my dad and a couple engineers and a couple people from the, you know, higher positions starting kind of reacting until they do a strike. So they. Their. Their idea was like, if we do this strike, so the whole industry is the heavier industry in the. And in the country. Well, Travis has to surrender himself and just quit power. That was not the case. So instead of that never happened. They all get killed, kicked out, persecuted. He sent letters to all the companies saying that their names actually their names were in the news, like a list of people. 

Jeff Johnson:
Chavez put their names in the news. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yes, yes. 

Jeff Johnson:
So this was. So let me back up with you for just a second, Edgar. So you’re saying Venezuela was fantastic for the longest period of time. And then when Chavez got involved under the auspices of helping out the poor and, you know, doing good things for the people. Then he was popularly elected, and then it turned into this. This slow manifestation of socialism. How long did that take for that to happen? 

Edgar Camacho:
A couple years. But then, you know, like, Fidel got into place. You know, like Cuba was into place. They were super alive. And, you know, he started like. How do I say this? Infiltrate the army with Cuban people. So Cuban militias and Cuban police were inside the army. So when we start protesting about all the stuff that was not working with Chavez, were pitifully right in streets where they started, like, hitting people, grabbing humans by the hair, drag them in the floor. It was a mess. We never seen so such a brutal repression. But that came from Cuba. You know, it’s a. You know, in. In themselves, too. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So when we start seeing all that stuff, it started getting worse and worse until the point that there was a day that Chavez hired his shooters, and we have. I was watching this peaceful manifestation in Caracas, and all of a sudden people start falling in the floor. So they were shooting people that were walking, and that was a burst of craziness. Wow. So we start getting into the streets. There’s one moment that we couldn’t really tolerate it anymore. Things got violence. We started reacting to it, and we got violent too, you know, because. But never with guns. They all had guns. Chavez had these amazing strategy of taking all the guns to local police because he thought people was gonna give him a coup. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So. So the only people that end up having, you know, weapons are them and their side militias. He has a side militia. 

Jeff Johnson:
So I would imagine you have strong opinions about our Second amendment here in the United States, then the right to bear arms and that sort of thing coming from Venezuela, where Chavez took those arms away from people so that they couldn’t revolt, so that they couldn’t overthrow. 

Edgar Camacho:
I think it’s for your personal defense in your house, you know, you need to protect your family. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s. 

Edgar Camacho:
That’s. That’s totally okay to me. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, that’s. 

Edgar Camacho:
I don’t. I don’t go deep into that, because even though my dad was in security, it was called Loss and Prevention Control, but it was most of it security of a whole cryogenic. The bigger cryogenic at the time, my dad was the manager of the whole thing, so not the manager of the whole operation, but the security. So he was close to national guards, you know, special police. And why not? He was all around that. But he never gave us into. Get us into the culture of getting guns or shooting in Any way, he was totally opposite to that. He was like that with five kids, you know, racing five different kids. He would. He thought it was very dangerous to have him around. 

Jeff Johnson:
So are you, so are you in the streets now with your parents and your siblings? 

Edgar Camacho:
A friend of mine and a group of youth leaders from the Democratic Party. Well, we decided that we’re gonna stop a main highway as a sign of protest. Well, it was very scary. They started like taking their cars. These, these people, the Chavista Party, you know, body that supported Chavez, getting into their cars and getting into the protest and shooting at us. So here we are with stones and our hands protecting ourselves with stones. And they were shooting at us. So they couldn’t do it, the small cars. Why not? So they called the National Guard. So they came with tanks to attack people that they were, you know, they had like stones. And when I saw them coming, I throw one big one. I was so tired of it. So, so tired of these people from Cuban abusing for. 

Edgar Camacho:
From people in the street that are peacefully protesting. And the last thing I saw was like these people shooting at us with, you know, hostess situation, gas. You know, there are two, you know, there are tear gas and they’re hostage situation. When the hostage situation they paralyze you, it’s really strong, you know. And they were shooting at us. They were shooting with guns too. So pretty much I was a knee over here. Like, you know, all this stuff was I around me, but didn’t keep me. So the people in the buildings. So think about. This is a highway. There was a building here in main highway. They were start yelling at them. What they did was like amazing. Just they got their guns with the gas and shoot inside the apartments. So mind you, there’s disabled people here, older people, kids. It’s a mess. 

Edgar Camacho:
So I, I got into this confusion and everything was in slow motion. I couldn’t understand, I couldn’t breathe. I was barely walking, trying to run people’s, you know. Yeah, it was like crazy. 

Jeff Johnson:
And you weren’t hit, you weren’t injured? 

Edgar Camacho:
I was, I wasn’t hit. 

Jeff Johnson:
What do you make of that, Edgar? 

Edgar Camacho:
But I don’t know, some divine power or something, I don’t know, Guardian angel, whatever. I don’t know you want to call it. But there were three build up, three guys that they were with me because they got a. They start getting. Arresting people. So when that start happening, I got a. Got a handkerchief with vinegar or something to avoid the, you know, the gas is something that they trained me to do and I was looking at my friend, her name was Andrea. Looking at her and calling out her name. Well, they. Over there. When they’re going to hit you, they don’t hit you with a. With a little, like, stick. They should be the metal stuff that is flat, like a. Like a big sword. So I saw this guy looking at me, and he got it out. 

Edgar Camacho:
But then when he noticed I was trying to look for someone, he thought probably I was somebody from the building looking for his family. You know, that’s what I can come up with. And then he didn’t hit me. That was another guardian angel right there. I don’t know. But I. But I end up slowly going away. I’m going away until I walk away. And I never, you know, got, you know, detained by the. By them or taken to any place, but they took three guys that. They disappeared that day. So that was the day that I said, you know what? I can’t keep living here. You know what your. 

Jeff Johnson:
What year was that? 

Edgar Camacho:
Early 2004. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
I had a radio show because I studied journalism. That was one of the. Part of my fights. So I had to be on top of the news, see what was going on. When you get into the news, you start getting sick, you know, because it’s a lot of negative stuff constantly. And I had to actually. So Chavez had these. Radio show, no TV show. Think about it, like, probably like five hours straight, talking about how good he was doing in the government and, you know, like, And. And the stuff he was doing, who he was repressing, which people he was going to take their properties from, like steal their properties from, it was horrible. And I had to see that nightmare. But that fact that. That thing that happened that I told you that just make me think, like, you rethink. 

Edgar Camacho:
Well, if I stay here, I’m gonna just lose my life. And when I. Every time I had to go to the radio show, we watch a. Which. A comedy show, but against the government, for sure. With a professor of mine who passed away recently, I. I was a producer, so I was receiving calls from them and threats constantly. If you keep. Keep talking about this, be careful when you leave, you know, it was. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re producing it. You’re producing a radio show. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yes. 

Jeff Johnson:
And you’re having a little bit of subtle political commentary and you’re getting heated. Government. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, it was comedy. It was comedy. I know, but, you know, censorship over there is a big thing. When you have a. That’s when Chavez start transforming. Oh, I want a democracy. No, this is a social Democracy. But then we have political prisoners. You cannot call this democracy. If you have political prisoners, there’s no democracy. Yeah, that’s a dictatorship. 

Jeff Johnson:
Right, right. 

Edgar Camacho:
But then he created this system, this electronical system to do the elections. And I know people that they were living in Miami. They were the hackers for them. So they will hack the system to favor Chavez. Yeah. Wow. It was horrible. It was horrible. Wow. It was really bad. And you know, one of the. It’s so such a funny thing, Jeff, because in the Guinness Record, one of the most happiest people in the world. I remember when I got there, 2004 or 2005, I opened a Guinness Record book and the happiest country was Venezuela. At that time, with all this thing. 

Jeff Johnson:
Happening, you’re sitting in Miami in 2004, 2005, and Guinness is saying, Venezuela is the happy. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, yeah. It’s crazy. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re saying, wait a minute, I just came from there. Let me. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. Craziness. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Do you still have. Well, I want to ask you, I. I want to hear more your story, Edgar, but I want to wade into this. You know, here at the courageous crossroads, we end up asking the question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And you’ve already demonstrated a lot of stuff that, I wonder, could be the most courageous thing. But before you go further with your story, define courage for our listeners. How would you. What do you. How would you describe what courage looks like? 

Edgar Camacho:
I don’t know. I think courage is going through something. It’s not an action by itself. It’s an action of learning. I have to pass through this and then the courage comes in order to break that. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
Because it’s really rough, like leaving your country, leaving your essence, your culture, to go somewhere else new. You know, I left a girlfriend that time. You know, I left friends. I left, you know, my life as an artist, because I already was an artist over there, showing in galleries, museums and whatnot. I was known so then to go to Miami, which is just another world for me. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So it was a big transition. You have to learn so many things and so many things that I’m grateful for, because in that society that is corruption has been there so long, the values are turned into anti. Values. Let me explain you the situation. 

Jeff Johnson:
I was going to say, for example. 

Edgar Camacho:
For example, my neighbor work in the government from this side. My other neighbor from this side also works in the government. Then this neighbor in five years has a huge mansion. Now it has a pool and also has a boat. My other Neighbor still has his house. He painted, but he still has his house, you know, have changed a car. That’s it. So that means these neighbors stole money a lot from the government corruption. The other one didn’t do it. It’s honest guy. But then you know what people say, oh, this guy is a stupid. The one that didn’t, you know, they didn’t do all the stuff that the other did. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So. And it’s also a cultural saying that, oh, if you’re in the government, then you’re gonna stick your hand into it. You know, like it’s. It’s crazy because it’s a culture. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So I remember when I went to. I went to engineering school in a public university over there. You pay probably 50 bucks a semester or something. Everything else is subsidized by the government. But then when I was, like, in this fifth, you know, 50 of the. Of the college, which I was doing great anyways, I was like, no, I don’t see myself like an engineer. It’s a more easy thing to think of because my dad was a mechanical engineer. I knew I was going to have a job, and why not? I was like, I don’t see myself doing this. I’m an artist, and I have to, you know, get out of this and be courageous. That was probably the most courageous thing that I ever done in my life. Thank you for the rem. The reminder. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, well, don’t. Well, before you. Before you tell it, then, let me just go ahead and set it up with the. With the question, Edgar. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

Edgar Camacho:
I think it’s changing careers. You know, being. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re in Venezuela. 

Edgar Camacho:
I was in Venezuela, yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re in Caracas. 

Edgar Camacho:
No, I was in a place called Lecherias. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Edgar Camacho:
Which is pretty much like a more touristic side. It has water canals and, like, beautiful houses and by the beach. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re going to school there? 

Edgar Camacho:
I’m going to school there. It’s a public school called Universidad Oriente. You don’t get there by just paying money. You get there by a test that is being placed by them. If you pass the test, you get in. A lot of people don’t pass the test, so I was. I was privileged to have a very good education. 

Jeff Johnson:
But this is very interesting to me because you’re talking about Venezuela diving into socialism and Chavez and all of the offenses that occur about that cause you to pick up. 

Edgar Camacho:
That was way before. I’m sorry to interrupt you. That was before. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s before so you’re. So you change careers when you’re in the United States? 

Edgar Camacho:
No, I changed career over there. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Edgar Camacho:
But I went to art school. 

Jeff Johnson:
All the protest stuff happened before then. 

Edgar Camacho:
I haven’t. I haven’t tell you that story. Okay, so this is a story. I get into the art school, then, you know, like, have this revolution thing, you know, hair, long hair. When I start painting, drawing, then I’ll go into this artist’s house because I want to be involved completely in their world. It was amazing for me. All the, you know, theater directors, poets, writers, you know, people into film. All the people used to go to this house of this famous artist. There is a landscape artist. And I was absorbing everything like a sponge. And I was so happy. But then I had to get back to reality. My family were like, hey, wait a second. We don’t have any family artistic tradition. We don’t believe in this. 

Edgar Camacho:
You need to find a job or something in between that give you a job, that you can sustain your life somehow. You like to read a lot. Why don’t you know, try medium communication? And I was like, well, okay. I got convinced because it’s very interesting. I used to read the news a lot, and why not? And it was fascinating, you know, fascinating. Getting into the media school, it was a lot of free thinkers. They were not like, you know, engineers that wanted to go and do this and, you know what I mean? Like, it was another mindset, and I really loved it. But I still was an artist. I was still painting, I was still showing. I had a gallery representing me over there. 

Edgar Camacho:
But when I start getting into the medium communication, that’s when I start paying a lot of attention to what was happening in the country politically. And that’s when I got involved. 

Jeff Johnson:
I see. 

Edgar Camacho:
Sorry that I was. 

Jeff Johnson:
No, no. That connects the. That connects the dots for me, though. So when you speak of this transformation from, let me call it, the sciences, engineering to art as being the most courageous thing you’ve ever done, was that because you didn’t have the support of your family, because you were cutting, you were starting out on your own, and it was less practical? I mean, what makes that the most courageous thing? 

Edgar Camacho:
When you don’t have any reference of artists in your family and nobody really care or support or think it is important, so then it’s. You’re by yourself. So then here I am going with the support of my family that I thought, like, well, if I graduate as an engineer, then I’m gonna have a job for sure, because my dad knows all These people, then at least I’m gonna apply and somebody will know or whatever. You know, I had this plan, you know, I mean, my life can go this way. Great. But my life was going to go like this instead of going like this and enjoying the ride. So one day I woke up and I said, you know what? I gotta. It’s like someone coming out of the closet, but not the other closet. You know what I’m saying? 

Jeff Johnson:
Right, right. 

Edgar Camacho:
And I had to say, you know, be honest to yourself. This is not gonna make you happy. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
And it’s not very brave. So you have to have the courage to go totally against what they think. So it actually, the reference for art for them is they’re not good at all. Like, the only artists. The only artist in my family is like, somebody like an uncle from my mom, and he is a fashion designer. And you know what? Fashion designer guys cannot. You know. You know what I mean? 

Jeff Johnson:
A little aloof, a little crazy. A little. 

Edgar Camacho:
Exactly. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So they were like, oh, he. If he’s in art, he’s gonna. He’s gonna turn into that, or he’s gonna turn to drugs, or he’s gonna be someone that, you know, has. You know, you have this in your. 

Jeff Johnson:
That was your family’s paradigm about the artist. So I see that, Edgar. So you’re breaking through all of that. 

Edgar Camacho:
Totally. Which is. Which is a major thing because after me, then two cousins later in time, decided to go through art and say, no, this is my passion. I don’t want anything else. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
It’s crazy. It’s crazy how you can influence other people without really not even thinking about it, Edgar. 

Jeff Johnson:
It’s very courageous. Now, did you. You said you had gallery showings and stuff like that in Venezuela? 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, tell me what. Tell our listeners. Describe what your art is and what it is that you do is sculpture, painting, your music, painting. 

Edgar Camacho:
It was a sculpture, too, in the beginning. So when I started going into this art school, it was an extension of the main art school in Caracas. I didn’t want to go and leave in Caracas by myself going to an art school. So I started going to get free courses, and I met everyone in there. So in, I don’t know, in probably one year, I start showing with people that they were actually teachers of the school. So I started seeing that it had value, what I was doing. So in all my life, I’ll be painting, you know, human figures or landscaping since I was a kid. Mm. And again, when I wanted to go into. Get into professional training when I was A kid. My family was like, oh, well, we’re gonna call. 

Edgar Camacho:
And then a week after that later, they said, like, you know, there’s no spot in the. In the class. And I knew it. I felt it. I felt that it was like, no, they’re not supporting me, you know, And I. And I got into this class and slowly I started getting bored of drawing the same thing. You know, like the typical, like, still nature and. And, you know, like, with the jar and the flowers and why not? And I was like, you know what? I want, you know, free. Free classes, like personal classes. And I talked to this artist, and his name was Guillermoisaba. And he said, you know what? I will take you. You can. You can have, you know, classes at my house. And here I am, like, not really having any structure whatsoever. 

Edgar Camacho:
It was like, draw this or draw that or, you know, play with this stuff. And it was very free. So I was inclined pretty much in the beginning to human figure, like more like portraits, but not portraits in a regular sense of doing a portrait or like the imagination and probably like deforming the portrait. Because I was very interested in something called the new figuration of Latin American art. And three of those big names were people from Venezuela. So one of them name was Pedro Zapata, which I made. He was. He was an illustrator for one of the most important newspaper back in Venezuela. And I was like, very interested in his work. And probably those stuff start influencing. But I always. After that, I couldn’t stop going to museums and seeing shows and be so fascinated about art. But. But my art is. 

Edgar Camacho:
It’s a. It’s a reflection of life itself. It’s not. It’s not only, you know, a drawing or an abstraction. It’s being mutating until these, you know, characters, people, whatever, has become, you know, an abstraction now. So start losing the name because I have evolved personally. And then what I paint now, it’s a. It’s way more deeper than what I used to paint before. 

Jeff Johnson:
So when you left Venezuela for. You stopped off Miami first, before you ended up to Iowa. And I would kind of like to hear a little bit more about that story. But you left, should I say, a successful career as an artist. I mean, you said that you were known. You were. You had some showings. I mean, were you established? 

Edgar Camacho:
Do you feel like I was established? There was something, an organism, a department called National Culture center in Venezuela. They made a call. So a lot of these curators, they’re part of the curators of, you know, an American curator association heard about my work and they contact me. So I had to submit some work through a museum. So I was selected to be part of the. It was the second part of the best of the Latin American, of the best of the Venezuelan contemporary art at that time. So first were like the masters, you know, people that I met and why not like big names? And the second part was the young people. I was selected to be part of that jungle. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. So that’s just when I left, right after I left. 

Jeff Johnson:
So that’s significant acclaim then. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
So what do you. What, what happened with your art? What are you doing with your art now that you’ve come to the United States? I mean, this has been 20 years ago. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, yeah. But as soon as I got here, I got in contact with, you know, the art scene in Miami at the beginning was kind of like disappointing because I was going to, you know, Fort Lauderdale, which there were not many galleries over there at the time. And if there were galleries that were like, you know, palm trees and stuff like that, like stuff to decorate. And I didn’t know anything about the Wingwood Art district, which is very famous nowadays. And then somebody told me about it. And as we’re going in there was a gallery, so it’s a co op gallery. So the artists over there, they needed to be selected by the owner of the gallery, which was a very established artist, Simon Jimenez. And I met her, he liked my work and went into shows over there. Time passed. 

Edgar Camacho:
Somebody came from Venezuela, I got married. She was my girlfriend over there back in Venezuela. I got married. Things didn’t work, but I wanted to go to. To art school. But as soon as we got here with no money, pretty much, you know, so I had to wait a lot of years in order to do. To go back to school. So when I got back to school at time when, you know, it was another courageous time because I faced a divorce. It was very sad for me, very depressing, but. But it was the perfect time for me to go back to school. So I get back to school when I was like, probably 30 years old. 

Jeff Johnson:
How long were you married? 

Edgar Camacho:
Like three years. Only that relationship lasted seven years. 

Jeff Johnson:
It was back in. Back in Venezuela and then she came. You got married and it didn’t work out here. Divorce, you’re in Fort Lauderdale. 

Edgar Camacho:
I mean, Fort Lauderdale, living with my grandma. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Edgar Camacho:
And I applied to a great art school called New World School of the Arts. So pretty much like big luminaires come from that school. It’s a great school. It’s in downtown Miami. It’s part of Miami Dade College. But when. When I was in one particular class with Frederick Schnitzer, which was a sculptor and the owner of one of the best galleries in Miami. It’s called Fred Schnitzer Gallery. He was talking to me because we have friends. Like, at that time, I met a lot of people in. In Wingwood, and he was the owner. So I knew somebody that was in his gallery. We start talking and then he said, oh, that was about to happen. And I was like, what are you. I mean, I’m talking to him. He’s watching, like this way what was happening, because we had some presentations. 

Edgar Camacho:
All this kid took all his clothes off in the classroom and then got a penny hose. And I started, like, getting inside of it and close it in the top and start moving around. And I was like, look, he knew that stuff like that happened all the time because. 

Jeff Johnson:
Welcome to art school. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. When I. That’s when I decided, this is not the right school. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’m not gonna do this in this school. Right. 

Edgar Camacho:
Because these people is just trying to be the next Lady Gaga. It’s just, you know, creating a chalk or something. Getting attention. They’re more for that than anything else is. I’m not saying that everybody does that way over there, but I was not into it. I was trying to probably come back to myself, doing more meditation, doing something, you know, that keep me calm and focused. And what I wanted to do, which was going to art school. And one day I’m in my computer and a window pop up says, maharishi University. The people do meditation here. There’s a free alcohol campus. It’s not that I have anything against alcohol, but it was an environment that I never leave or thought I was going to leave. But back. 

Edgar Camacho:
Back in Venezuela, I met a few people that they rent certain apartments because they live somewhere else, but there’s not such a thing as, you know, the campus, like here. And then, you know, that the experience of going to school by yourself. And I wanted to move away from Miami because a lot of my friends were friends with her. So I didn’t want to enter, you know, this person anymore. Nowadays, I don’t have anything against her, but at that time, it was like, I don’t wanna. I don’t wanna be around. And then these people call me and said, you know what? I was interested. I contact them. And then they later called me and said, you know what? I can pay for the flying ticket if you want to come and, you know, try it Maybe you do the first semester. 

Edgar Camacho:
We have a lot of help here, scholarships and why not? So I end up going to Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. 

Jeff Johnson:
In Fairfield. 

Edgar Camacho:
Wow. In Fairf. I mean, I have seen snow because you have mountains in the Antis. Back. Back in Venezuela, but I never seen a snowstorm. So I got here in a Snow Storm. January, January 3rd or something like that. I don’t remember. 

Jeff Johnson:
And, and did you know anything else about Maharishi University? 

Edgar Camacho:
No, not. 

Jeff Johnson:
They just. They. So did somebody come and recruit you? Is that what happened? Or you had a friend that recruited, knew about it? 

Edgar Camacho:
And then I started having like an agent thing, you know, and then he started contacting me. He had a. He had a accent. He was from New Zealand. I’m thinking about this older man, like Harry Potter, and it was a young guy like me, you know? Yeah. I was like, well, I was not expecting you, dude. Like, it was funny. 

Jeff Johnson:
So you come to Fairfield and it’s snowing. 

Edgar Camacho:
And it’s funny because you know that the dining hall called Anapurna was closed. So the only. I didn’t have any food. I didn’t have any car to drive around. I came flying. I sold my car to go there. Wow. And here I am in Fairfield, Iowa, small town in Iowa. And I was the happiest person in the world. 

Jeff Johnson:
There’s. How many people attend that university? 

Edgar Camacho:
Thousand. Thousand something. You know that the university has master’s degree program too? 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So. And before going to the university, I study the teachers first, who they were. And there was one in particular named James Rosary, which. Very interesting. I saw the videos and why not? I said, these people have something profound. I have to go and check it out. And the rest is history. Now. Recently, last January, I finished my mfa. They gave me a scholarship and I did my mfa, my Master in Fine Arts. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
So if I. If I can, I will be able to teach at college level now. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
But if I can’t, you know, those jobs are tough to get, but there’s always a possibility. 

Jeff Johnson:
Were you, were you. Were you happy with your education at Maharishi? 

Edgar Camacho:
Very happy. So I finished. I finished medium communication where I started in Venezuela. I finished that degree and I have another degree, Bachelor of Fine Arts. And now I have my Master’s in. 

Jeff Johnson:
Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts. 

Edgar Camacho:
And I lived on campus in this small town. I had to walk everywhere. It was. I was super happy. 

Jeff Johnson:
What did you do with. What did you do with your friends from Venezuela and the people that you immigrated with and got asylum and all of that in Miami, because I’m imagining. Because of everything that was going on with Chavez and fleeing persecution, that would have created a really strong bond down there. I mean, I understand the fact that you had a marriage that failed, but that’s very brave to leave that community and come to Fairfield. 

Edgar Camacho:
I didn’t. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to see any people. I knew somehow I knew they were. They belonged to Miami. And Miami life. Miami life was completely absorbing, very expensive people. People around me pretty much survive. You know what I mean? Like, just for the luxury of living in Miami. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
So I didn’t see that as a. As a life, as a real life. And I. I knew there were. There had to be something somewhere else for me. So I don’t want to be part of that. So I. I said, you know what? Going into this place can be a very good thing. And I felt it was great. I felt it was a good opportunity for me to change completely. And, yes, I move away from all my family and all my friends by myself. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
Not knowing, but Fairfield is so welcoming. The environment of the university is wonderful. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, it’s small town Iowa. I don’t have any experience with Maharishi University, you know, other than growing up in Southern Iowa. You know, we always used to hear about people meditating and bouncing and floating and doing all that kind of stuff, which sounded pretty strange to me. And my faith is very different than any kind of transcendental meditation or anything like that they would experience there. But I don’t have any other experience with Maharishi. But I do know small town Iowa. And when you say very welcoming and felt a sense of home and that sort of thing, that makes perfect sense to me, Edgar, that you would. But what a strange trip. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
France to Venezuela to Miami to Fairfield. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was meant to be, I think. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
While I was in school, I was driving back and forth to Miami to visit my family, you know, holidays and whatnot. And there was a holiday that I get to go to a brunch with my friends, and I met this woman that she’s from Iowa and speaks Spanish very well. And then we start dating and we get married. I moved to Des Moines from school, and I have two kids, wonderful kids with her. Wow. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
So it was meant to be that way, I think, somehow. And. And with the Maharishi. I know with the Maharishi thing can look very strange. I’m not a person who attached to any New Age movement or, you know, or. Or go into a hippie mode or anything. Very, like, scientific driven mind. And I was raised Catholic. The meditation is something that they have, like, 99 studies in Harvard School of, you know, medicine. So that’s a positive effect on it, on people. And that’s what I concentrated doing, you know, the meditation and going to school. And the school is not about Maharishi and all of it. No, no. I mean, I don’t. I don’t focus on any of that. I’m appreciative, but I’m. I don’t focus on thinking that Maharish is a religion per se, at all. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, yeah. So you’re. You say you’re a Catholic? 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, I was raised Catholic, yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
I went to Catholic school since I’m a kid, you know, when I was back in Venezuela. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, your whole. Your whole story, Edgar, the way that. The way that it strings together, I mean, it’s just beautiful all, like I said, all the way from France to Venezuela to Florida and then to Fairfield and now to Des Moines. And that we got to be friends. It’s just amazing the kind of people that you get to meet. I see courage in the whole story. Do you think that faith is necessary for courage? Do you think faith is a necessary component for courage? 

Edgar Camacho:
I think it’s. That’s the only way. That’s the only way. Thinking fate give you the opportunity of thinking in the future, everything is going to be good. You can go through. You know, that gets you through the. 

Jeff Johnson:
That gets you through the thing, whatever that thing is. 

Edgar Camacho:
That’s the power that gets you through it. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
Because if you don’t have that power, you go down. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
And fate is the only. The only power that get you through any tough situation. 

Jeff Johnson:
Who inspires you with courage? 

Edgar Camacho:
I. I always think my dad inspired me a lot because he came from a very rough childhood. His dad died when he was 5. His mom died when he was. So their story that there are times that he will walk away from the house and cry because they didn’t have anything to eat. And him and his brother went to notebook. They used to. Over there, this is against copyright, but over there they had photocopies in those universities, and they copy the books. They copy by chapter, pay by chapter. So he used to get all the leftover paper from those guys and staple it and flip it around so he can write in the back of those papers. Those were his notebooks. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
He went through all that, you know, order to be an engineer, and then Sustain a family of five. And my mom, her work was taking care of us. She didn’t have any job. She was pursuing. Literally. I remember when I was a kid, psychology major, but she didn’t finish it. So he had to. He has to, you know, rise five guys for me was like, wow, he’s really strong. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, that’s a lot. 

Edgar Camacho:
He has a lot of courage in order to. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
To go from that bottom thing in order to get into this. And it’s still like, I have a. I have a food business in the farmer’s market. He worked with me. He’s the guy in the grill. 

Jeff Johnson:
He’s here now? 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, he’s here now. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
See, how powerful is this? Like, they were not living very well in Miami, so they end up coming here. So the IOwa, welcomed them big time. 

Jeff Johnson:
And now they’re living well in Iowa. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Thanks to their son who went to Maharishi University and graduated and opened the door and. Wow. 

Edgar Camacho:
Yeah, they have a food business to help them to sustain themselves here because my dad, you know, pensions were stolen from him. 

Jeff Johnson:
What’s next with your art, Edgar? And is there any way that people can see you online or get familiar with. Do you have any. Do you have a website set up or anything like that for your work? 

Edgar Camacho:
I have a website, but it’s not the more nice website. So people can see me in the website from the university. They have a gallery in the university that they show different artists from different places in the world. And in United States, it’s called Weggy Scent Center. It’s W E G E Center in Des Moines, in Fairfield, Iowa. So it’s going to give you a list of, you know, past exhibitions. And my thesis show is in there. 

Jeff Johnson:
W E G E. And they should look for Edgar. 

Edgar Camacho:
Edgar Camacho. E D G A R D and C A M A C H O. But I’m represented by a very good gallery, I believe it’s called Stephen Vale Fine Arts. It’s in the. Is in the bottom. At the bottom of the Fitch Building, which is across Exile Brewery. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yep, yep. If you send me those links, I’ll put those for listeners. I’ll put those in our show notes so you can go take a look at Edgar’s artwork and get in touch if you. If you’re so inclined. 

Edgar Camacho:
By the way, one of the best ways is the Instagram page, because I don’t have a personal Instagram page. I use my Instagram page as an artist promotion thing. 

Jeff Johnson:
Oh, that’s wonderful. So what’s in. What’s in store? What do you see for yourself? What’s the Lord going to do with you in the next five to ten years, Edgar? What do you think? 

Edgar Camacho:
I have no idea. Maybe. Maybe the business, it will grow and you’re gonna end up being a restaurant is taking me to. That’s another courage thing that I have to. Courageous thing I have to do. Another thing I want is to teach. I think. I think with all this information I have, you can’t just go into a higher, high level of education and then just leave it there because you’re being. Want to experience that information that you got and share it. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Edgar Camacho:
And get it back, you know, because my teaching inspirational thing is not going and teach and show you what I know. No, it’s learning from the new generations, you know, constantly learning and talking about art, because for me, art is not a painting, it’s not a sculpture, it’s not a piece of music. Art is actually, for me, an organ. You know, nameless organism is a creative energy that is everywhere. We are part of this extension of this organism is they. I mean, this what I believe. Well, I want Jeff to. I want Edgar to do this. And the deeper this organism to see what he wants to deploy. And that organism is not disconnected from God. I believe. I believe it everywhere. It’s like God is everywhere. I don’t see it only in one place. 

Edgar Camacho:
I understand many people want to locate God in one place, and I. And I get it, but I. I think it’s everywhere. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, I’m looking up here on my laptop, Ephesians 2. 10, which says you’re talking about an organism and wanting Jeff and Edgar to do something. I absolutely skipped the organism part and call it God. I hear exactly what you’re saying. And Ephesians 2. 10 says, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And I absolutely. I think you and I would agree on that statement, Edgar. And you said many times already in this little interview, you know, you don’t think that any of this stuff is a mistake. It’s improbable. 

Jeff Johnson:
When I sit back and I look at it the way, you know, you’ve taken such a brave, circuitous route to end up in my purview, you know, so you and I could meet and become friends here in Des Moines, Iowa, and I’m just super blessed to know you. But, man, I see a lot of courage in your story, Edgar, and I’m just grateful for you taking some time to share it with me and with the people that are listening. 

Edgar Camacho:
You’re very welcome, my friend. 

Outro:
Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done at Crossroads Apologetics, please visit our home on the web at crossroadsapologetics.org Would you or someone you know like to be featured on Courageous? Send us an email at infocrossroadsapologetics.com or Info@Crossroadsapologetics.org telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.