Joy Hernandez

Joy Hernandez is an artist currently residing in Indianapolis, Indiana, originally from Kewanee, Illinois, where she received gold keys at the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition and has remained involved in that program as a frequent judge for the Central Indiana region.

In pursuit of a career in animation, Hernandez attended the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, but the slower pace of animation work was not best suited for her, although an appreciation for animated works remained. She moved to Indianapolis to study television news photography at the University of Indianapolis. While there, she continued to advance her artistic skills, training her eye and exercising her creative spirit by working in television news.

Currently, Hernandez is a video photographer and editor at WISH-TV, the CW affiliate in Indianapolis, and  a reporter-photographer for the nationally-syndicated show Pet Pals TV and Great Day TV. She is a contributor to Curious Mix, the WFYI radio program, and a contributing editor for the Urban Times newspaper.

Hernandez joined the Art Bank in 2011, to show her artwork locally, and was the gallery manager until 2016, when she left to found the Full Circle Nine Gallery, a co-op of over two dozen artists, in the Circle City Industrial Complex. She was an artist representative, vice president, and president for IDADA, the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association, during that time.

In 2013, Hernandez joined the Walldogs mural organization, when they held their 20th annual mural meet in her hometown of Kewanee, Illinois. She helped with promotion and organization of the event, and then had the honor of helping to paint one of the 15 historically-based murals created during the five days of the meet. Joy has since traveled as a Walldogs to subsequent meets in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and New Hampshire.

Joy continues to show at the Full Circle Nine Gallery, as well as other locations and show opportunities throughout Indianapolis. She has painted several murals within the Circle City Industrial complex, both in the “Walldog” style, reflecting the history and origins of the building, and in her own style, larger brushwork interpretations of her aerosol and acrylic paintings. She participated in the 2019 St’Art Up 317 season, with her signature astronaut character dancing in the windows of Milhaus in Fletcher Place, and painted a mural of her astronaut in the back alley of Square Cat Vinyl in Fountain Square. Her current painting focus is around a stenciling technique with a mix of aerosol and acrylic underlay showcasing her quirky interests.