Nivia Gonzalez
Born 1947, Nivia Gonzalez was a child prodigy with extraordinary talent. She held her first solo exhibit at the Witte Museum at age 17. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Trinity University, a master’s degree in art education from University of Texas at Austin, and studying at Cooper Union in New York, her works would be displayed in galleries across the United States. She also featured her art on book covers from authors like Sandra Cisneros and Alice Walker. Although she battled mental health issues, she never let that hold her back. Gonzalez worked hard to become the renowned artist that she was, working full time as an artist and also being a single mother raising twin daughters.
Gonzalez was an advocate for her community. Whether small or well known, she believed in the genuineness of the artists with whom she worked. She also supported many social causes and nonprofit organizations. While a director at The Bexar County Jail Arts Program, she was able to help those incarcerated to create a mural that would be featured during the 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II to San Antonio, Texas.
Unfortunately, in 1997 she suffered a severe car accident. Following this accident, she experienced multiple strokes which left her paralyzed, including her dominant left hand. It would take her several years to be able to paint again, pushing herself to regain the strength in her hand to be able to do so.
Gonzalez wanted her art work to be able to represent and empower all women of color. While many of her paintings before her accident depicted women with their eyes closed (e.g., the three prints used in this article), after the accident, the subjects would be staring, eyes open, directly out from the paintings. In a 2007 interview with Express-News, she stated that “their eyes were downcast because they were thinking about stuff… but now they were happy to be able to see - well, I’m so happy to be able to see, to be alive, that I’m looking at everything and anything.”
Passing away in 2017, she is survived by her daughters Regina Antelo and Selena Watson.