ADALBERTO CASTELLON JR.

In 2011, while playing at a rock concert in Lexington, Kentucky, Adal met his future wife, Sarah Jane. She came out to California where they eventually settled down and got married. They both moved to Kentucky in 2015, and they haven’t looked back since. Adal opened Spanish Fly Barbershop in the summer of 2018 and loves being part of the Nulu/Butchertown redevelopment.

Outside of work, Adal loves spending time with his two wonderful children, Tito and Eva Maria. Adal is a family man at heart and loves exposing his kids to as much art and culture as he can. On his days off, it’s common to find him and his kids on the connector bus heading down to the Kentucky Science Center, 21c, or KMaC (where his son goes for toddler art lessons). He loves to travel and feels blessed to have done so with his family.

ADALBERTO CASTELLON JR.

ADALBERTO CASTELLON JR.

Adalberto Castellon Jr. is the owner and operator of Spanish Fly Barbershop in Louisville, Kentucky. The shop has been open and thriving since 2018. 

In the 1970s, Adal’s parents both immigrated to Southern California individually: Adal’s father from coastal Mexico in Nayarit near Puerto Vallarta, his mother from Chihuahua, a landlocked agricultural state just south of Texas. They would later meet and fall in love in L.A. Adal grew up in Costa Mesa in Southern California, but spent most of his summers in his mother’s home town of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. Family heritage and culture continue to flourish and influence Adal’s art, in and out of his barbershop.

In his early twenties, Adal studied fashion and art at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in downtown L.A. He also went to cosmetology and barber school and holds licenses in both. 

In 2011, while playing at a rock concert in Lexington, Kentucky, Adal met his future wife, Sarah Jane. She came out to California where they eventually settled down and got married. They both moved to Kentucky in 2015, and they haven’t looked back since. Adal opened Spanish Fly Barbershop in the summer of 2018 and loves being part of the Nulu/Butchertown redevelopment.

Outside of work, Adal loves spending time with his two wonderful children, Tito and Eva Maria. Adal is a family man at heart and loves exposing his kids to as much art and culture as he can. On his days off, it’s common to find him and his kids on the connector bus heading down to the Kentucky Science Center, 21c, or KMaC (where his son goes for toddler art lessons). He loves to travel and feels blessed to have done so with his family.

Q & A

1) How would you describe yourself and your art?

Art means the world to me. I’m definitely driven by art. When I was younger, I wasn’t that great of a musician, but all of my friends were artsy… and one person picked up the guitar, another picked up the drums, and I picked up the bass. At the time, It was a way to express our art. I try to live my life with art in every aspect. I got to Kentucky by playing music and I’m cutting hair now. Now I’m just trying to push my art in my barber shop, kind of like the shop is my canvas.

2) Did you always want to be a hairdresser or barber?

Initially, I did not want to do this for a living. My family and my roots are in traditional barbering. My parents were immigrants and they struggled to come to America. For me, it wasn’t my initial thing because it’s what my family always did in the “old country.” We’d always go back to Mexico and I’d see my Grandma, I’d see everybody, and it was just kind of like what they did back then. When I finished high school, it wasn’t anything I wanted to do because it was tied to that and I wanted to make my own way. Eventually, it resurfaced in my life.

My Grandfather was a barber. He trained four of my Grandmother’s brothers. It was always a part of a family tradition. It was always a part of a small town, where everyone knew that shop and knew everyone’s name. It was a cornerstone for that community. That’s where I would love to see this going. I always want to see people use their industry for good. 

3) Do you have any formal education in art?

I’m a licensed cosmetologist and licensed barber. I also went to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles, so I have a degree in fashion as well.

4) How do you see your work evolving?

I have a lot of plans… in 10 years, I see myself flying to another shop that I own, or I want to do product lines in the future. I want to continue to push the Spanish Fly brand and lifestyle.

5) What advice do you have for any upcoming artists?

I guess I would tell them to stay humble. I would also say to take chances. Don’t get comfortable where you’re at. Some ideas may seem less than what you should be doing, but you should take the risk. Sometimes the unlikely channels and avenues are what actually open opportunities for your future. 

For me, it’s been Louisville. It took stepping away from a big city (Los Angeles), where there’s always art available, and being in a place where I can concentrate and not always struggle to pay my rent or make ends meet.

6) What has been your favorite professional opportunity? 

I would say this barber shop is definitely the biggest and most challenging project that I’ve done so far.  

Back in my time in the Bay Area, I curated a Frida Kahlo themed art show in the women’s building in the Mission District of San Francisco. We raised money for the mural in San Francisco in the community college, so that’s probably the project I’m most proud of. I was able to curate a bunch of art, and some of the pieces sold, so that was really great. 

Something else I’m super proud of… we call the flag in the shop “American Me”. Me and my wife made this. We made it from different denim, Mexican blanket fabric, and then marigold flowers. I wanted to put an American flag up to show my pride as an American and also so people understand the depth in what it means to be an American. It’s not just one thing. In our current time, that’s getting really muddy, what it means to be a true American. I wanted to have some physical representation of what it means to be an American. Which is basically bringing fabrics from wherever, then coming here and achieving the American Dream. For me, it’s this barber shop. That’s what it represents.