Taking the form of acrylic painting on canvas, mixed-media works on plexiglass, and large-scale murals, Puerto Rican artist Hana Martinez (b. 1999) translates lived experiences into visual language. Raised between New York, Mexico, and Minnesota, moving across borders continues to shape her relationship to place, memory, and community. Martinez is currently based in Brooklyn, where she works as a Visual Arts Facilitator and Lead Muralist for El Puente. Here, art functions as both pedagogy and practice, rooted in social justice and community storytelling. For over three years, Martinez has designed and produced four mural projects and collaborated on over a dozen others, engaging youth and community members through hands-on training, mentorship, and collective design. 

Martinez studied Peace and Conflict Studies, Studio Art, and Latin American Studies at Goucher College, an interdisciplinary foundation that continues to inform her practice. She has worked across educational, nonprofit, and gallery settings, including the Baltimore Jewelry Center, Art for a Heart, New Collectors Gallery, and El Puente. Her work has been displayed at New Collectors Gallery and Gallery MC in 2025.

Martinez’s introduction to creativity began in childhood in Mexico City, where murals, artesanías, and museums revealed visual art as something lived, woven into sidewalks, rituals, and daily exchanges. This understanding deepened through a certificate in Traditional Muralism completed in Winter of 2025, in Varanasi, India, where she apprenticed under Professor Suresh K. Nair at Banaras Hindu University. 

Moving between languages and geographies has shaped Martinez’s attentiveness to displacement, resilience, and voice. Her work often explores elements of her own identity, incorporating both Mexican and Puerto Rican symbolism, as well as the narratives of her surrounding communities. Through public art and education, as well as her personal practice, Martinez continues to use visual language to portray psychological and cultural experiences, imagine alternatives, and foster community.