![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/012024-NICOARTIVIST-ET-PU-30.jpg?resize=600%2C399&quality=89&ssl=1\")
Ahead of the protest, the 38-year-old Oakland-based artist guided young people as they pressed the woodblock design with black ink on garments inside the Brava Theatre on Monday night. In partnership with Karla Castillo, co-founder of the youth arts group Loco Bloco, the workshop was a way \u201cto show the youth another form of art,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina said. \u201cWe printed about 100 shirts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me, this is so important to have one another in support of each other,\u201d said Jose S\u00e1nchez, 18, during the workshop. S\u00e1nchez is studying at San Francisco International, a small city school that offers opportunities to newcomers. \u201cIt shows that here we are, unified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years, Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina has transformed public spaces into platforms for activism combined with art. From murals and wheatpasted prints to banners for immigrant rights demonstrations, his art tells stories of resilience and resistance, uniting communities across the Bay Area and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His journey began in 1992, when his family migrated from Mexico to Chicago. He started taking art classes in elementary school and publicly showcased his paintings for the first time at age 12. But tragedy shaped his path: after losing his mother to cancer when he was only 18, and his father a few years later, Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina channeled his grief into activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His 20s were spent immersed in immigrant rights movements across the United States, staging hunger strikes, sit-ins and civil disobedience actions, including a march to the Montgomery State House in Alabama. He recalls organizing outreach initiatives to educate communities about their rights. \u201cThe reason ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] gets a lot of people is because they don\u2019t know their rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even during this period of intense activism, his creative output never stopped. Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina painted banners and made posters for every action, weaving art into his activism. \u201cMy art wouldn\u2019t be here if it wasn\u2019t for all my activism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012, Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina joined a 3,000-mile march from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., to fight for the Dream Act. Although the journey was cut short by legal battles stemming from a civil disobedience arrest in Alabama, his commitment never faltered. By 2018, he moved to Oakland and decided to embrace life as a full-time artist, leaving behind gallery work to focus on empowering communities directly. \u201cIt\u2019s not for money; it\u2019s for the message, and my art is to empower young people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many people, marching with freshly printed shirts on Saturday embodies collective strength, reaffirming San Francisco\u2019s commitment to providing refuge and support for undocumented immigrants while spotlighting the pivotal role artists play in amplifying political movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina adds the final touches to a large carpet banner that will lead the demonstration, he reflects on his purpose: \u201cThis is what I dreamed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m living my dream\u2026 Son las ganas que tengo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nic\u00f3las Gonz\u00e1lez-Medina believes his art belongs in the streets, amplifying the often unheard voices of people like him: queer, undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88922,"featured_media":63981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"above","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25071],"tags":[],"coauthors":[24151],"class_list":["post-63969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-en","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/012024-NICOARTIVIST-ET-PU-2.jpg?resize=600%2C399&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/012024-NICOARTIVIST-ET-PU-28.jpg?resize=600%2C399&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/012024-NICOARTIVIST-ET-PU-9.jpg?resize=600%2C399&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/012024-NICOARTIVIST-ET-PU-24.jpg?resize=600%2C399&quality=89&ssl=1\")