Illustrators and Team Members
...This work begins with the children their curiosity, courage, and becoming. It is carried forward by the team and board who protect the space for that growth...
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Christian Mendelsohn
Executive Director
Christian Mendelsohn is the Executive Director of Hijos del Sol Arts Productions (HDS). His interest in HDS began before he joined the organization, after watching a KQED Spark feature on founder José Ortiz and the work of Hijos del Sol. The video introduced him to the organization and its focus on youth, arts, and community in East Salinas.
Christian joined HDS during a leadership transition and initially served as Interim Executive Director. He later became the first Executive Director to assume leadership following the founder’s tenure. In this role, he focuses on organizational operations, partnerships, staff support, and long-term organizational stability while supporting HDS’s mission and programs. He is NOT good at fundraising!
Prior to HDS, Christian founded and served as Executive Director of Loaves, Fishes & Computers. Through that work, he developed experience in nonprofit management, community partnerships, and program development. The organization received national recognition, including being named PGA National Pro-Am National Nonprofit of the Year in 2022.
At HDS, Christian works to strengthen internal systems, support staff and teaching artists, and help ensure the organization remains focused on serving youth and families through arts programming.
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Christian is not on the HDS board of directors.
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Christian's Linkedin profile. ​
José G. Ortiz
Illustrator, Painter, Sculptor, Designer, Fabricator, Muralist, and Educator
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José started his career as a clay sculptor at the age of 3 and started drawing at the age of 5. He was resident sculptor for the Western Stage Theater Company. He has worked as an agricultural worker. He has dozens of public murals in the Monterey Bay area. He founded Hijos Del Sol Arts Productions to offer an experimental space where young people can explore their creativity at no cost. He and HDS have collaborated with numerous community arts organizations in the Monterey Bay area.
He loves his work and enjoys reading, watching independent and foreign films, visiting museums, and spending time with his family.
He received a Master's in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
Josue D. Rubio
​Illustrator, Painter, Graphic Designer, Fabricator, Muralist, Curator and Educator
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Josué has been part of Hijos del Sol since the age of 11. Autodidact by practice, his path grew from observation into graphic design, eventually leading him to become the organization’s official designer. Now he is also a mentor at the experimental arts studio.
Alongside his creative work, he has experience as a telecommunications technician, taking on projects in the Bay Area where he applies the same visual discipline to organizing data cabinets and cable systems—approaching infrastructure as another form of design.
It has been a long and ongoing journey of practice and learning. Whether refining creative skills, cutting grass, or operating machinery, he approaches every task as an opportunity to learn, improve, and stay in motion.
José (PePe) Nolasco
​Illustrator, Painter, Sculptor, Designer, Fabricator, Muralist, and Educator
José “Pepe” Nolasco is a visual arts practitioner. He has been developing his vocational skills at Hijos Del Sol Arts Productions since age nine. He has exhibited at many HDS Collective Exhibits and had an exhibit at CSUMB Salinas Center for Arts and Culture as a solo artist. He created a Días de Muertos annual Exhibit with his students at Dual Immersion Academy in Salinas, Ca . He has collaborated with José G. Ortiz in many important larger-than-life murals around Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. He designed and painted four major murals, including a 300ft. community mural at Tate Park in Marina, CA. Also performed visual art projects with the youth at the Dual Immersion Academy Salinas three days a week, 7:30a-12p for several years, running the HDS Experimental Art Studio right after along with another 1-2 team members. The kids love Pepe! (& so do we)