Combining culture and creativity, Hispanic artists across Gainesville have turned their talents into businesses. From creators who specialize in vibrant digital art to Native American jewelry, here are three local artists to check out during Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts through Oct. 15.
All sell their work regularly at the Haile Plantation Farmers Market, which takes place on Saturday mornings.
Arianna León Uberti
During the first 25 years of her life, Arianna León Uberti witnessed civil unrest in Venezuela, which she called the “country of broken dreams.” In spite of her home country’s struggles, the 35-year-old’s main purpose in creating art is to make people happy.
“I wanted to get people out of reality a little bit; see color, see funny characters and talk about something that is not political,” she said.
Around the time she graduated from college, a near-fatal fall from a tree changed the course of her life. Had her mother not brought her sketchbooks and markers to the hospital while she recovered, León Uberti may never have taken up art.
What started out as black-and-white doodles of monsters drawn from her hospital room would eventually turn into the bright, playful illustrations she creates today. The creatures she draws appear in many mediums including prints, coasters, tote bags and more.
The colorful and natural aesthetic of her work is inspired by Venezuela, which is among the world’s most biodiverse countries with around 21,000 plant species and 8,000 native animal species. Artists, however, are not so abundant in her home country.
“It's not a normal thing that people usually pursue in Latin America,” she said of art, adding lawyers and doctors are more popular professions.
León Uberti struggled to launch her career in her home country, largely due to lack of products and electricity. She relocated to Spain for a time, where she also found it difficult to find success as a beginning artist.
She moved to Gainesville seven years ago when she shipped around eight of her pieces to town for an art exhibition hosted by Satchel’s Pizza. Most of her artwork sold within a couple of weeks, which made León Uberti hopeful that she would find success in Gainesville.
The illustrator now frequents events such as Haile Farmers Market, has painted 14 murals downtown and was recognized as a cultural ambassador in a city proclamation issued in 2025.
Through her art sales, León Uberti now raises money to help those back home in Venezuela and hopes her fellow Latin Americans will follow their own ambitions.
“It's very important for the Hispanic community that they also have to get out there and show what they do and show what they are,” she said.
Ju Reis
Like León Uberti, Ju Reis never anticipated becoming an artist.
Reis, the 44-year-old owner of Love Seeds, a natural jewelry business, initially explored jewelry making as a creative outlet for her autistic son. She hoped the intricate craft could help him get outside and increase his attention span.
“It developed from something that was a trial for a therapy for him, until I started seeing that I could actually spread this thing that I loved so much,” she said.
Reis grew up in Brazil and moved to South Florida in her 20s. Though she studied environmental science at Florida International University, she prioritized her family over pursuing a career. But her love for the natural world didn’t disappear.
Love Seeds came to fruition over a year ago when Reis moved to Gainesville and started homeschooling her son.
Her jewelry consists largely of açaí seeds, roughly the size of blueberries, which she sources locally and from Brazil. Markets and family businesses polish and pierce the seeds then ship them to her and other artisans.
“This culture of using seeds comes from the indigenous, from Florida, from Brazil,” Reis said. “They started this practice of tinting the seeds to make different colors and different types of everything, especially necklaces.”
The necklaces, bracelets and earrings that Reis makes are lightweight and range from basic to bold styles and colors.
Love Seeds plays an important sustainability role for the communities where it sources its materials. The communities that harvest the plant collect piles of the seeds, she said, which take years to degrade. Reis’ business helps to reduce this waste.
Today, Reis said crafting this jewelry grounds her and brings her back to Earth.
“I sincerely feel like art can change and will change the world,” she said. “I believe my pieces, as small as they are, as small as I am, can bring some comfort, some grounding to someone at a certain point.”
In addition to the Haile Farmers Market, Reis has also sold her jewelry at the Ocala Downtown Market and Blackadder Brewing Company.
Silvestre Hernandez
Silvestre Hernandez also incorporates natural resources into his jewelry — in his case, wood, bone, copper and leather. The inspiration for his craft, and eventually Silvestre Designs, came 25 years ago as an effort to support his travels.
When studying sociology in Mexico City, the 48-year-old artist was unsure of where life was taking him. He took a break from school and learned to make jewelry to fund his journeys across Mexico and to other countries like Guatemala, where he grew his wood carving skills.
Hernandez eventually came to Gainesville to further his jewelry business and to take language lessons to reinforce his knowledge of the Nahuatl language.
Though he lived in Latin America for much of his life, Hernandez doesn’t feel he completely identifies with their culture. Hernandez is Native American and can trace his roots to the Huaxtec, Comanche and Totonaco tribes. Many of his pieces are infused with Native American symbolism.
Silver, Hernandez’s primary medium, is not only recyclable and less expensive than gold, but it is of significant spiritual value to his people.
“Even silver is more high than gold in many cultures, because it means the light that you see when you come into this life,” he said.
When it comes to Native American culture, Hernandez feels strongly about the crimes and oppression still to this day that are aimed towards his people. He uses his jewelry as a platform to educate others on such injustices.
Though a regular at the Haile Farmers Market, Hernandez has been included in the Artisans’ Guild Gallery and Artwalk Gainesville as well.
Contact Isabel Kraby at ikraby@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isabelgkraby.
Isabel is a general assignment reporter for The Avenue and is starting her first semester with The Alligator. She is a junior journalism student and transferred to UF from Daytona State College after her freshman year. When she's not writing for Ave, she loves going to concerts, crocheting and designing spreads for Rowdy Magazine.
