derrick gonzales

tohono o'odham community college | ilíiaitchik: indigenous correspondents program (icp)

derrick gonzales is tohono o'odham, pascua yaqui, and piipaash all tribes are from arizona. growing up on the tohono o'odham reservation. where he was always surrounded by nature, being fascinated with the elements along with art pushed his interest further to attend the southwest university of visual arts in tucson arizona to get his b.a in illustrations and a minor in graphic design. as he gained knowledge through art and attending the school for four years he realized it was very beneficial but he hit an obstacle. during covid the school went bankrupt and he had to figure out his next steps. he started working in the conversation field and regained that passion for nature. he did that work for two years and figured it was time to go back to school, that is what he's currently doing now working towards his associates in science in life science at tohono o'odham community college while studying he is also participating in art projects where he sees a want and need to combine art and science so he's been creating a lot of informational art work where he has fun with his illustrations while teaching everything he's been learning and sharing cultural knowledge through his artwork.