The Second Coming of Jeremiah Hernandez: An irresistible force for passion is guiding public art in New Bedford

“I am not an artist,” he will frequently tell you. He maintains that he “can’t even draw a straight line.”

We’ll have to accept that at face value. However, whatever attributes he may disavow, it’s undeniable that few people have had the profound impact on art that Jeremiah Hernandez has had in New Bedford — and by extension the entire SouthCoast region.

Jeremiah Hernandez loves art and artists and all the two create together for society. As excited as some people get when the Red Sox win the World Series or the Patriots annihilate the field, Hernandez gets even more intensely enthusiastic when he discovers new art and artists — especially in New Bedford. And, he loves to share his love with the city at large.

He first introduced the city to that enthusiasm on a regular basis as co-owner and curator of U.G.L.Y. Gallery on Union Street — where he and co-owner David Guadalupe Jr. helped eliminate many of the boundaries to culture which stubbornly persisted in New Bedford.

In this newspaper on Aug. 27, 2011, the late David Boyce wrote, “The recently established U.G.L.Y. Gallery is a breath of fresh artistic air in New Bedford, with its emphasis on art using the vocabulary of youthful street culture, skateboarding, graffiti art, and other energetic ethnic and diversified cultural sensibilities.”

UGLY’s beautiful run lasted four years on Union Street — and there was “nothing to cry about” when economics made it necessary for he and Guadalupe to close it, Hernandez said in a video. Presciently, he commented, “It was a learning lesson” in entrepreneurship — and he added, “I haven’t stopped believing in New Bedford.

His very next role — sans the art — gave life to both those statements. Four years ago, he took what he had learned and put it to use. At the invitation of Shelley Cardoos, he helped her launch Entrepreneurship for All — EforAll — on the Southcoast.

The non-profit group trains budding creative business people and has not only proved to be popular, but amazingly successful — as has Hernandez with the organization. Both he and Cardoos have risen steadily in the EforAll ranks as persons throughout SouthCoast have launched successful small businesses after being a member of an EforAll cohort.

“Jeremiah is a humble rock star,” said Cardoos. “He cares so deeply about building community — and doesn't do any of it for any kind of accolades. In fact, he runs from any kind of praise!

“Jeremiah helped build EforAll South Coast in New Bedford and Fall River and is now working to bring this awesome program to similar communities throughout the country.”

All the while, art and its impact on community was never far from Hernandez’s thoughts.

In 2017, he curated a tour de force show for the Groundwork Gallery. “Don’t Call It a Comeback” boasted over 100 works of art in a mega-show that broke attendance records at the gallery — and reached no. 1 on reviewer Don Wilkinson’s art shows for that year.

Though it could easily have been an act of nostalgia, featuring many of the very artists who populated UGLY Gallery openings, it wasn’t at all. It was daring, fresh, wild and almost impossible to hold — everything that lights Hernandez’s fire within about art in the first place.

After that earthquake of creativity, Jeremiah Hernandez could have simply walked away from his last hanging and called it a very good day. Focus on home and career and enjoy some free time. But then….

The public mural group, SUPERFLAT NB appeared on the horizon, and the second coming of Jeremiah Hernandez over the art world dawned in New Bedford.

As one of the founding members and guiding forces of SUPERFLAT, it’s easy to imagine that Hernandez is in his element once more — with an even larger canvas to create his own particular brand of art onto. For yes, he is indeed an artist — his own admonitions to the contrary notwithstanding.

His canvas is the City of New Bedford itself now.

“From the moment I met Jeremiah, I was struck by his energy and passion for what is possible in this city and its neighborhoods,” says SUPERFLAT spokesperson Kim Goddard. “I've come to know him as a friend and colleague and am better for it. He pushes and challenges me and I've learned so much from him.

“One of my personal highlights this year was being given the opportunity to create the SUPERFLAT NB photo mural along Acushnet Ave. Jeremiah was one of my biggest cheerleaders. He never doubted that I could do it — and so I never did either.”

Goaddard’s feelings are replicated by all who come into contact with Hernandez — including many of the artists this column has profiled. He is an irresistible force for passion within SUPERFLAT and behind all that the group has accomplished.

You’ll find him at the creation of every mural — in the hot summer sun, on early dewy mornings and during late nights under the lights doing whatever he can to help artists create in the city, throughout the city.

Astute readers may have noticed that this column is all about Jeremiah Hernandez — but not written with him. It goes back to that sense of humility Shelley Cardoos brings up. Discussing a profile of Hernandez with him would be pointless; he would turn it back around to the art and artists and erase himself from the picture.

But he can’t be removed from the composition that is the visual arts in New Bedford today. While he may be no formal artist, he’s very much responsible for the broad brushstrokes that define the city now.

And if you look into that picture long enough it becomes clear that Jeremiah Hernandez hasn’t just concerned himself with the representation and possibility of New Bedford through art, but something far deeper.

He’s helped frame its very soul.

Steven Froias is a writer and editor who lives in New Bedford, MA. He can be reached at stevenfroias@gmail.com.

 Get the best of Coastin’ delivered to your inbox each week. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter by visiting myprofile.southcoasttoday.com.