Texas Border Business –
By Melissa Vasquez,
Edinburg, Texas –– If it weren’t for the insistence of Ramiro Peña’s wife that he go back to school, he would not have earned a bachelor’s degree, and he probably would not be working toward his Master of Fine Arts at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
“At the time, she was making more money than I was and told me it was time for me to go off and get my degree. She told me, ‘I will support you,’” Peña said.
Peña is the epitome of a non-traditional student – married, with children, 45 years old, and with a two-decade career behind him.
Peña, who lives in Donna, Texas, gave it his best and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2013 from The University of Texas-Pan American, a UTRGV legacy institution.
Before graduating with honors, Peña produced an undergraduate art exhibit titled “The Silent Departed Heroes,” which pays tribute to more than a dozen service members who enlisted in the U.S. military to gain U.S. citizenship and were killed in combat in the process. He says the series of portraits allowed him a deeper appreciation for the men and women who serve and protect the United States.
“The idea was to keep the humanistic quality behind it. So I had to be very sensitive to that and not lose that in my interpretation of them and their service to our country,” he said.
As a graduate student, Peña now continues his salute to veterans through a commission by Edinburg H-E-B at 2700 W. Freddy Gonzalez Drive, to develop one of the biggest art projects he has ever undertaken – two 8-foot by 12-1/2 foot murals honoring Edinburg hometown war hero Alfredo “Freddy” Gonzalez. A U.S. Marine Corps platoon sergeant, Gonzalez was killed on Feb. 4, 1968, at the Battle of Hue in Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and in 1996, a Navy guided missile destroyer, the USS Gonzalez, was commissioned.
The murals will be displayed at the store, and the large-scale artwork will be completed by May 2016. TBB
