Daniel Mendoza is an artist and California native who is a first generation Mexican-American. He is from Lincoln, California, a small community outside of Sacramento. The community in Lincoln is very rich, and has a strong Mexican-American Community created by Mexican immigrants and the generations of their Mexican-American children. Daniel grew up on a pistachio farm there in the area with his family. He has lived in the region his whole life, and has travelled extensively around the United States and into Mexico. His primary source of income is not art, but teaching. He works as a preschool director at a local preschool in Lincoln where he oversees the development of curriculum and implements it in his own classroom. He prefers to keep his art a passion, and has no desire to make it his main source of income because he feels that would take the joy and freedom out of his creativity. In his own words, he likes to be able to create “on his own terms” without the pressure to make sales in order to sustain himself. He has three Associates Degrees in Art History, Studio Art, and Early Childhood Education. At the moment, he is working on obtaining his BA Degree in Early Childhood Education. He has a great passion for his job as a teacher because it allows him to always stay in a creative mindset, and through it he is able to teach art lessons every summer. His art is inspired by his Mexican heritage and current issues affecting the Latino community; however, he is also very inspired by classical paintings. When he decided to further his education through going to college, he wanted to study art history because he realized that there is immense value in the many works from around the world that have survived the ages. Obviously different artists whose works have been celebrated for hundreds of years were onto something and had incredible talent, so in obtaining his Associates Degree in Art History he was exposed to the masters and the classics, and inspired by their talents.