Local muralist transforms Central Coast with his artwork and inspires young artists through his nonprofit in East Salinas
Every mural starts with a single brush stroke and an image in Jose Ortiz's mind.
"I bring in my grandmother's consciousness. She's the one who taught me 'hijos del sol,'" Ortiz said.
In English, it means "children of the sun." It's a message, a way of life, Ortiz shares with his young students, and in his artwork across the Central Coast.
Born in Mexico, Ortiz moved to Salinas to be with his mother when he was 1o. He worked alongside her in the agriculture fields. At 11 years old, he started school and discovered his love of art.
"A teacher introduced me to a set of oil paints and brushes and canvas. So I started painting almost every day," Ortiz said.
After high school, Ortiz attended Hartnell College and began painting sets for the college's theater program. He transferred to UC Santa Cruz and then started his journey as a teacher.
"I found that I wanted to teach what I knew, what I love, and what I understand," Ortiz said.
So he created the nonprofit Hijos Del Sol.
"It's not an art class per se. It's a small office space for the creator, the thinker, the one who wants to draw, paint, and has this imagination. Everyone is incredibly creative, but they just need to know that they are. I think this program does that," Ortiz said.
For 25 years, Ortiz has been mentoring students of all ages by offering an art studio for those living in East Salinas.
"Inspiration happens at any time, any moment," he said. "So if we don't have the studio open, where do you go? Most of our kids don't have a room, you know, they don't have a space."
Jose Nolasco is one of Ortiz's young artists.
"When I was growing up, I didn't find any programs like this in school," Nolasco said. "Finding a place like this, it's been wonderful because now I can't wait until I come here to the studio." He started the program at seven years old, hoping to learn different artistic techniques for painting watercolors, acrylics, and oils.
"You can learn a lot from him. He does a lot of very cool techniques that you get on that you don't see in other artists."
After years in Ortiz's program, Nolasco himself is now an art teacher at Dual Immersion Academy of Salinas.
"Now I get the chance to teach what I learned through Jose's teaching. So everything that he taught me, I'm trying to, like, put it into the kids," Nolasco said.
Ortiz's nonprofit holds three art exhibits every year but their creativity has stretched beyond the walls of the studio at Sherwood Elementary. The group has simply transformed the Central Coast with color, painting roughly 70 murals on local schools and businesses, from Salinas to Watsonville, all the way to Carmel. Each one takes 200-300 hours to complete, with Ortiz channeling his grandmother's philosophy, hijos del sol, along the way.
"She had another philosophy, she thought that the sun was our father and that the Earth was our mother. Every mural we do, I try to bring those elements so that people can connect. We're all sharing a planet, we need to get along."