ABOUT

BIO

Artist, Muralist, Educator

Josie Gonzalez (b. New York, NY) is a Puerto Rican/Borikéña painter, muralist and designer who lives and works in New York City. As a teen, she apprenticed under artist Jorge Soto Sánchez at Taller Boricua/the Puerto Rican Workshop collective in East Harlem, New York and later worked as a muralist with the Cityarts Mural Workshop and the Murals in the Parks program. 


Gonzalez continued to embrace her interest in building and representing community through artwork by collaborating on numerous community projects and commissions throughout the New York City area, and partnering with local organizations, neighborhood groups, schools, libraries, and local businesses. Among her public art commissions is a faceted glass window installation at the Woodlawn Avenue station in the Bronx commissioned by the New York MTA Arts for Transit program; a collaborative design translated into a ceramic tile installation for the NYC Department of Education Sites for Students Program, P.S. 54, Bronx, NY; and an installation for The New York Public Library, Chatham Square Branch, NY. 


In addition to her commitment to public art and community building, Gonzalez has worked with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bronx Children's Museum, the New-York Historical Society, most recently at El Museo del Barrio creating community art education programs. Her work has been featured in Employee Art Shows at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New-York Historical Society.


Currently, Gonzalez is completing an M.A. in Museum Studies at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and has work on view in the virtual exhibition 'Picturing America' at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum. 


Photo credit: Ira Merritt (top photo)

ARTIST RESUME

  • Education
    • Master of Arts in Museum Studies, CUNY School of Professional Studies in partnership with the NY Historical Society, NY, NY. (Class of 2024)
    • Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts Major, Puerto Rican Studies Minor, CUNY Queens College, Queens, NY
  • Recent Exhibitions

    June 21, 2021 - Present 

    Picturing America, Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, NY, NY.  https://mvhm.org/

    • Online group show; exhibition theme was expanded to include artists from diaspora of Puerto Rico

  • Selected Public Art Works

    2021

    "Castle Hill" mural (collaborative),  Bronx, NY 

    Acrylic on canvas, 8' x 5 ½'

    Sponsored by Bronx Council on the Arts


    2017

    "Rise Up" and "Rise Up 2" step murals,  Bronx, NY

    Spray paint and masonry paint on concrete stairway, 10' x 25'

    Sponsored by ArtBridge and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene


    2011

    "There Is No Strength Without Unity" mural. Bronx, NY 

    Acrylic on wood, 12' x 12'

    Sponsored by Bronx Council on the Arts/NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs


    2008

    "Jacob's Place" mural. Bronx, NY. 

    3 panels, acrylic on mounted canvas, 38' x 8' 

    Sponsored by Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, Bronx, NY


    2006

    "Children at Play", Woodlawn Avenue train station, Bronx, NY

    14 faceted glass windows, 2' x 3 ½' each 

    Sponsored by NYC MTA Arts for Transit


    2001

    "Building A Community of Learners" (collaborative), Public School 54, Bronx, NY

    5 ceramic tile panels, 20' x 8'

    Sponsored by Sites for Students Program/NYC School Construction Authority,  LIC, NY


  • Publications
    • Lane, Judith, The Bronx Artists Documentary Project, 2015, onthemark.net. Featured on pages 187-188
    • Bloodworth, Sandra and Ayres, William, Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit, 2006, The Monacelli Press. ‘Children at Play’ project featured on page 227

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