Channel 5 News is launching a new segment called Made in the 956.

Each Tuesday, we're going to highlight people from the Valley who are impacting our community in a positive way.

An artist from the McAllen area is this week's Made in the 956.

For Alexandro Gonzalez, art is a way of life. Alex grew up in the Valley and started creating art at a young age. Over the years, Alex’s love and technique for art grew. Most recently, Alex hit a rough patch during the pandemic, but little did he know that a social movement would be his calling for his art.

"So I went to visit my mom, and she was crying. And I was like, ‘What's wrong mom?’” Gonzalez said. “She was just crying and she was like, ‘Look, they can't find this girl. Her name is Vanessa Guillen. My mom was like, ‘Son, you got to paint her. You got to do something about it.’ I was like, ‘You know what mom, I will, I will do something about it.’"

After that mural, things really started to take off.

"I saw just how it was very impactful with the community, with everybody,” Gonzalez said. “I was making people aware. That's when I knew that art was very powerful. And I was like you know what, this is the route I want to take. I want to use my art for the good. And gracias a dios, it worked."

Since then, Gonzalez has been creating pieces all around the Valley, big and small. One of Alex’s specialties is drawing faces. In fact, he painted a face we're all pretty familiar with: our very own Tim Smith.

“He's a legend,” Gonzalez said. “I grew up seeing Tim Smith since I was a kid, and then one day we got to the gallery and I said, 'You know what, I'm going to paint Tim Smith."

Alex says his art is his way of giving back to a community that has given so much to him.

If you know someone who would like to featured on Made in the 956, contact Trey Serna on Twitter or Facebook.