Vigil's work celebrates his own Hispanic roots, as well as the religious and historic heritage of his native New Mexico and the Southwest. His materials, pure natural pigments, sands, lime and colored soils, come from the earth of New Mexico and bear a natural relationship to the adobe walls also found in the Southwest. Always looking for that perfect wall, Vigil is preoccupied with finding an expanse of any size to turn into a work of art. He has also completed frescoes in chapels, colleges and universities, outside of school buildings and other public facades.

He has been very active in a group of Hispanic artists, La Confradia, that formed in 1978 to show their own work outside of the established Santa Fe "art scene," from which they felt excluded. Aside from his frescos, Vigil has exhibited his work at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of American Indian Art, Saint John's College in Santa Fe and at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, the Museo de Arte e Historia in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, among others.

The revival of the art of fresco in the Southwest can be largely attributed to Vigil. While reaching its peak in 16th century Italy, the art of fresco has been present in the Americas long before then and can be found in Meso-American pyramids and Anasazi kivas, among other locations.

Exodus, Influencias Positivas y Compadrazgo, 1998
Museum of Fine Arts
a unit of the Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe

Cartoons for the buon fresco mural in the patio of the Museum of Fine Arts were funded by the City of Santa Fe Cuartocentenario Commission, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Herb Beenhouwer and Susan McGreevy.

The Museum is indebted to Frederico Vigil for his beautiful mural, the loan of these cartoons, and his unfailing willingness to teach us about the process of buon fresco. Jerry Rightman, Museum Volunteer, also provided indefatigable assistance to Vigil and the Museum of Fine Arts throughout the painting process.