HANCSM is excited to profile North Central neighbors that highlight the personal history, talent and stories of our community members.

“I have been living here in the Silicon Valley since 2012. I was born and raised in Mexico. I immigrated and started my education here in California when I was 14 years old. It took me around a year to learn and develop proper English. When I was 18 I started my college education, but I had little guidance, and no idea of what I wanted to do. I enrolled in the local community college and tried several subjects and disciplines. It was then I started taking art classes and I fell in love with art. I pursued the art field and eventually learn to draw, paint, and do digital work at College of San Mateo and Cañada College. It was nice to have affordable classes that offered so much content. To this day I have still not managed to make art my career, but it is still my passion. I work in retail as many other people my age still do in order to pay the bills. But I love to paint and create, and I find time to make pieces of art which are unique and expressive. I am also very glad that I live in this part of the country where self expression and personal identity is broadly accepted. My creations may not be considered traditional art by some, it is bizarre, moody and satirical. However,  in a place like the Bay, what is traditional anyways? I do hate the fact that I live in what is perhaps the most expensive area in the country, but I wouldn’t want to change that, the freedom, the people, the ability to be who you wanna be. That is the beauty of the Bay Area, just like my art.” – Emmanuel Torres, Age 26