Next to the bustling renovated shipping container courtyard that is The Churchill, there is a building with an all white exterior with the name "Palabra" etched into its wall.

The scent of brewed coffee fills the senses as customers walk in, taking in the full artistic experience that lines its walls, covers its tables, emanates from its meals and radiates from the countless customers who trust the establishment with their haircare.

Located in downtown Phoenix just off Roosevelt and First streets, Palabra is an art incubator that hosts four elements within one building: Futuro, the coffee bar and art gallery; Pasado, the restaurant; Sessions, the experience piece; and Palabra Hair Studio (PHS).

Jorge Ignacio Torres, co-owner, co-director and co-curator of the experiences at Palabra, said he and his wife, Priscilla Urrutia, founded the space to promote Latino-oriented art in the Valley.

Palabra may have been founded in 2012, but Torres and Urrutia's vision of establishing a hub that fosters and curates Latino-focused art was a vision 22 years in the making.

Fostering a much-needed artistic space

Born in Los Angeles to a mother from Zacatecas, Mexico, and a father from Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico, Torres, 43, said his family moved to the Maryvale area in west Phoenix when he was a junior in high school due to the high cost of living in California.

It took him a while to identify as an artist, but he always "felt creative in different routes," he told The Arizona Republic.

"I've always been into different things. Even growing up, it was different music, different films, different types of dressing. It was always something different — not necessarily to be opposite, it was just organically. I liked different things," Torres said.

Two endeavors were born before Palabra saw the light of daw: Mexikatek (pronounced Me-sh-ee-ka tech) to bring Latino acts to Arizona and a gallery on Grand Avene called Propaqanda (pronounced "Propaganda") that would promote Latino artists.

It proved difficult to find artists who were creating "non-stereotypical Latin or Mexican art."

"I feel like the stereotypes are always lowriders, Day of the Dead and things like that... We love those things too, but our conquest was to foster new things," Torres said.

After shutting those down, he approached "another portal" — hair styling. "I ended up finding that I can be as creative as I was but in a new realm, a new craft," Torres said.

In beauty school, he befriended Urrutia, his future wife and Palabra co-founder.

Growing up in Maryvale with family ties to Sinaloa, Mexico, Urrutia, co-owner, lead hairstylist at PHS, co-director and co-curator of experiences at Palabra, said she had a passion for hair since she was very young.

Urrutia grew up styling loved ones' hair for special events. "I think my whole family knew that it was going to be my future. And it was easy. It was easy for me to choose that. And I still love it to this day," Urrutia said.

Upon meeting Torres, Urrutia said they shared many of the same interests and passions.

Whether it was architecture, books, coffee shops or fashion, the two "geeked over anything" — even the potential for a space to foster their shared creativity.

The idea started taking form. "'Wouldn't it be cool if we could have a space that had all those things?'" Urrutia recalled them thinking.

In 2012, Torres said Palabra opened as a hair studio with just two chairs.

During the day, Palabra operated as a hair studio, but once a month, Torres said Palabra hosted art shows intended to bring their community together.

The couple went through two locations before landing at their current Roosevelt Row spot.

They owe it all to their community, they said.

"It's not just us. If it weren't for the community, we wouldn't — we'd be nothing," Urrutia said, adding that Palabra is more a place that gives the community a chance to express themselves and a platform to do it.

"Everyone within the space is in their own right an artist in one way or another," Torres said.

Intention in every detail

Like everything else at Palabra, there is a specific meaning and purpose to the names of the different spaces.

Before it had an official name, Torres said his inner circle was already using Palabra as a name to describe it. Palabra means "word" in Spanish.

Torres and Urrutia said the name is universal and can morph into anything that is reflective of the work they seek to accomplish. Within Palabra, the names for all the other elements have a significant meaning as well.

Futuro, the coffee element of Palabra, symbolizes the future and the path of where Palabra is heading. The coffee bar part was never in the plans but grew organically into the space when the couple moved into the downtown location.

Pasado, the food element, looks to the past and symbolizes Palabra's work in preparing pre-colonial dishes based on what Torres said is "the pyramid of the essentials, which is the bean, the corn and the squash."

The couple is proud of their Mexican heritage, so they use their platform to honor their ancestors.

"And if you come into this space, you're not gonna get hit that it's Mexican. And it's intentional that way. I want it to be for everyone but if you dig and you want to know, you'll find out that there's many layers," Torres said.

The minimalism inside the space is also intentional, not an aesthetic, the couple said. It gives customers the chance to walk in with "a really clean palate so they can physically concentrate" on what Torres wants them to concentrate on — the art.

"To me, art is not an accessory, it's a part of my life and it’s a part of this space," Torres said.

Each of the pieces that make up the space at Palabra hold meaning, Torres said.

"We have stories for all these pieces because it means something to us," Torres said, and that meaning extends to the coffee beans they brew, the musical experiences they curate, and, of course, the customers whose hair they care for.

PHS is known for its unique, progressive hairstyles, which are a reflection of their client's trust in them to bring their vision to life, the couple said. Clients bring in photos so that Urrutia can mirror those styles, but instead, she said she prefers to "combine them all, and it becomes this haircut you've never seen before."

Of course, they'll respect hair trend requests, staying true to their customers' needs, "but what we really gravitate towards is cultural hair we've seen in the past. Whether it's rock and roll or whether it was movies from the 60s. It just can come from anywhere," Urrutia said.

Torres said they will also draw inspiration from nature, architecture and shapes when creating different hairstyles. "It's not really trendy. It's more of a feeling," Urrutia said.

The space has been used to curate different music experiences as a part of the Sessions component, short for "music sessions," Torres said.

Each session has its own name to match the music experience they are curating, bringing in local, national and international acts.

The most recent "session 009: Meth Math" was held in December in the hair studio.

Like everything at Palabra, this was done intentionally. Hair stylists and nail techs at PHS were involved in getting the musician, Meth Math, ready for the performance at the hair studio.

Urrutia said her hair team, specifically Angel Natera, created a wig that Meth Math performed in for the event.

Growing with Maryvale, not growing out of it

In addition to growing Palabra, Torres and Urrutia are also involved in a multidisciplinary Maryvale-based art collective known as "Labor".

Labor was originally founded by a team of artists who grew up in Maryvale, including Torres, sculptor and artist Yaritza Flores Bustos, and writer Joel Salcido.

In a previous interview with La Voz , Salcido said Labor seeks to be the bridge that shows the artistic capacity and potential of Maryvale because the neighborhood is too often stereotyped, underrepresented and ignored.

Every two months, starting February, Torres said Palabra will showcase artists whose work was presented at the "El Mundo es un Barrio" in solo exhibits.

When Torres was first coming up in the art scene, even though he loved Maryvale, he said he felt he needed to leave Maryvale to find his passion and craft. Urrutia and Flores expressed the same in a previous interview with La Voz .

"I just felt very alone out there as a creative person. It was really hard to find my group," Urrutia said.

But when Urrutia met Torres in beauty school, she said she realized she was not alone and that Torres shared the same feeling.

"We kept saying 'me too. That's how I feel. Wouldn't it be so cool? Just dreaming, wouldn't it be so cool if we had a space that kids like us can be connected to?' Little did we know, we created it," Urrutia said about Palabra.

That connectedness helped lay the groundwork for Labor and Palabra, the latter being Torres' and Urrutia's way of never losing Maryvale.

"They are our heart. We are Maryvale. Just because we're here (in downtown), we're never going to forget that," Urrutia said.

Urrutia said they intend to connect more with the Maryvale community, ensuring that younger generations don't feel the need to leave to grow their creative passions.

"They can grow with us. We can do it together. Anyway, that we can help, we're here," Urrutia said.

Details : 909 N 1st St, Phoenix. Hours vary. Palabra and its different entities can be found on Instagram: @_palabra, @palabrahairstudio, @futurocoffee, @_pasado.