After Brownsville artist Daniel Maldonado passed away unexpectedly, local artist Gabriel Trevino put a piece of his own art up for auction via Facebook and will give the proceeds to the family in a gesture to express his sense of loss and help with final expenses.
Daniel Maldonado, who was 64, died Dec. 29, leaving behind a wife and seven children, his daughter Cassandra Maldonado de Rodriguez said. The family did not have insurance.
“I met him in 2005, around there. He is a portrayal of myself, just a local artist trying to be productive in the art world. My biggest condolences to him. He’s a family man, a brother, a father that has passed. For us, he’s an artist so I thought, let me take one of my paintings and see if I can raise a few dollars and see if I can pass it on to the family to help out with any expenses they may be having,” Trevino said.
“Losing a loved one is hard enough, and then dealing with the day-to-day stuff like the bills, that just adds on,” he said Tuesday.
By Thursday afternoon, the painting had generated a high bid of $250, said Trevino, the program manager for KXIQ FM 510 Brownsville, the non-commercial radio station founded by the late George Ramirez of the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts.
The auction ends at noon Friday.
Meanwhile, the art community in Brownsville has come together to donate works for an art sale starting at 12 p.m. Saturday at the Puente Art Studio, 741 E. Elizabeth St., to raise funds for the Maldonado family.
“There’s going to be a little bit of everything I think, from paintings and sculptures to pottery. There’s artists from both sides of the border that have been donating pieces. It’s just been all sorts of different types of artists,” said Alejandra Zertuche of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, who is helping coordinate the sale.
Maldonado was one of the first artists to open a gallery in downtown Brownsville, she said.
”I knew my dad was known by a lot of people. …It makes me happy to know that there were actually real people out there that really cared for my dad,” Cassandra Maldonado de Rodriguez said of the efforts taking place on his behalf after his passing.”
Survivors include his wife Patricia Adriano, Cassandra Maldonado de Rodriguez, Gerardo Maldonado, Samantha Maldonado, Joel Maldonado, Pedro Maldonado, Daniela Maldonado and Roberto Maldonado.
