Arturo García Bustos was born in Mexico City, near the Zócalo. He grew up during the time when Mexican muralism was dominant, which drew him to art. After attending high school at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria Núm 1, specializing in architecture, he entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas in 1941, at age fifteen. The following year (1943) he entered the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura ("La Esmeralda") where his teachers were Frida Kahlo, Feliciano Peña, Agustín Lazo and María Izquierdo, studying there for five years. During his career he studied printmaking as well, including courses in printmaking with Korean artist Wan Jon Ja in Pyongyang and Chinese printing in Beijing in 1957.