Roberto Lugo was born in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Roberto was his mother’s third child by the time she was 21. Growing up Roberto was exposed to prevalent drug use and gang activity. The crack epidemic left half of the houses in Roberto's neighborhood abandoned. His childhood neighborhood gave very little hope for a future outside of its boundaries.
Roberto didn’t have any experience with art in high school. He did, however, take up writing graffiti with his cousins on the streets of Philadelphia. After moving away from Philadelphia Roberto found himself in a community college taking art classes.
After undergraduate studies Roberto realized how important it was to share his experiences through presentation as well. In 2011 Roberto had an opportunity to speak at the National Council of Education for the Ceramic Arts in Seattle, WA. His lecture was entitled “Activism Through Ceramics”. The following year at the NCECA Conference held in Houston, Texas where Roberto delivered another lecture titled “From the Wheel to the Wall”, a presentation on how graffiti relates to ceramics.