Mario Torero is a political activist and artist in the San Diego area. From 1988 to 1993 he was the Commissioner of the City of San Diego Commission of Arts and Culture, and taught at several San Diego colleges and schools. He is a co-founder of several local cultural organizations, including the Centro Cultural de la Raza, the Chicano Park Murals Outdoor Museum, and the San Diego/Tijuana artists' group United By Art (UBA). Torero has also helped organize several international artistic and cultural exchanges.

Torero's work has been exhibited in the United States, Mexico, Peru, Germany, and Japan. Some of his major murals are in San Diego, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and Prague. He has writen articles for the San Diego Union, the Los Angeles Times, Time magazine, and USA Today. Mario Torero continues to live in San Diego and work for Latino cultural awareness.