{"id":473,"date":"2019-06-18T15:16:59","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T15:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/?p=473"},"modified":"2019-06-20T14:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T14:32:05","slug":"gonzo247","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/featured-stories\/gonzo247\/","title":{"rendered":"GONZO247"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"475\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/featured-stories\/gonzo247\/attachment\/ustmural\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"6720,4480\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"USTMural\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-1024x683.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-475\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"USTMural\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/USTMural-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>After a rainy month, the sun shone brightly on March 21 as the University of St. Thomas community celebrated the reveal of GONZO247\u2019s mural on the east wall of Crooker Center. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered on the Campus Life Mall to enjoy hot dogs from James Coney Island, snap photos in front of the mural and meet with renowned Houston artist, Mario Figueroa, Jr.<\/p>\n<p>The mural depicts St. Thomas Aquinas, namesake and patron of UST. Woven throughout the painting are iconic school symbols: The Labyrinth forms the saint\u2019s halo, while the Chapel of St. Basil and the Link-Lee Mansion flank him. In his hands, he holds his Summa Theologiae, which all UST students study in their core philosophy courses.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"GONZO 247 and the UST Mural - University of St. Thomas - Houston, TX\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ftrJVyrRJt8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The root of every culture is expressed through symbols, patterns and colors,\u201d GONZO said. \u201cI absorb the culture. I internalize it, and I mash it up. Then I put that back out through these color combinations and patterns that I create in the background of the murals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The painting commenced Feb. 11. The following day, the Houston Chronicle featured the story on the front page. From there, the story was picked up by national media outlets, including the Associated Press, and reached readers from coast to coast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only is this mural going to be accessible to the students here, but it\u2019s embedded into Montrose, and so by default, the public engagement reaches beyond the student body to the entire neighborhood,\u201d GONZO said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s an open campus, anyone from the city can come by and check it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Born and raised Catholic, GONZO grew up in Houston\u2019s East End. It was there he first saw Leo Tanguma\u2019s mural, \u201cThe Rebirth of Our Nationality.\u201d From that point forward, he knew he wanted to be an artist, so when UST, his sister\u2019s alma mater, reached out to him, GONZO knew from personal experience that the project could only be a winner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowing up, I had one mural in my neighborhood to look at, and it inspired me and a whole group of kids to become artists,\u201d he said. \u201cA mural in an academic setting can do a lot to inspire the next generation of leaders, innovators and scholars. To know that it is happening at UST says a lot about the school.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Q&amp;A with GONZO247<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Houston Muralist GONZO 247 talks Art, Houston and UST - University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yXGHiTF2P74?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>What inspired your design of the mural?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took a tour of the campus and things jumped out at me. I was inspired by the history of the campus and by St. Thomas Aquinas himself. And, of course, the vibrancy and diversity of the city is inspirational. I think that\u2019s reflected in the diversity of the student body here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>What messages do you wish to convey in your art?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy purpose is to uplift people. I like using really bold, contrasting colors. When I paint, I have this positive energy with me that I\u2019m embedding into the mural. I imagine the sunlight hits the art and starts reflecting that energy, and the audience absorbs it. If you\u2019re having a bad day but you see these awesome, bold, popping colors, how can that not help you have a better day?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why did you personally want to do the UST mural?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really enjoy working on mural projects that engage the community. This campus is a community, so I liked the fact that it would engage the campus and inspire the students, inspire learning, inspire school spirit and, really, just give the students something bright and positive to look at as they enjoy their time here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Art connects us through shared experience. In February, a beloved graffiti artist Mario Figueroa Jr., rallied the UST community around our namesake, created a mural inspired by University icons and gave us an excuse to throw a big party in the process. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[155,179,182,180,103,156,11,181],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-stories","category-ust-news","tag-155","tag-gonzo247","tag-houston-chronicle","tag-houston-mural","tag-st-thomas-aquinas","tag-summer-2019-issue","tag-summer-issue","tag-ust-mural"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>GONZO247 - Encounter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/featured-stories\/gonzo247\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GONZO247 - Encounter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Art connects us through shared experience. 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