By I. smiley G. | smileycalderon@gmail.com

There is a special vibe about Fresno that is undeniable. A vibe of hustle and flow, one of grit and glory, that keeps the city palpable and moving. You can see it in its vibrant food culture and late-night food trucks, in the entertaining pop-up vendor events, sessions, and shows—a sense of excited urgency mixed with resilience. The vibe is ‘hella Fresno.’ That is to say, very ‘Fresno’.  

At least that’s how the local popular Chicano artist and graphic designer, Roeski Doeski characterizes it. One day, outside, he saw a man casually barbecuing on an upside-down metal shopping cart that he had converted into a fully functional makeshift barbecue grill, carefully lined with aluminum foil, grilling like a boss. The first thing that came to Roeski’s mind was: man, that’s hella Fresno.

And Roeski does not mean this as an insult, either.  

It’s a compliment, really. This barbecue dude didn’t let his lack of a grill stop him from grilling.  No, instead, he improvised and made something out of nothing—a resilience that many hustling Fresnans can relate to and respect.  

In this sense, this relatively new adjective, ‘hella’ (it was only added to the Oxford English Dictionary some twenty years ago), implies intensity. Synonyms include ‘very’ or ‘extremely.’  It is not derogatory at all, and it has nothing to do with actual ‘hell’ itself. It’s a word that gained popularity among the youth in the Bay Area and then spread to the Central Valley.  ‘Hella’ is a unique and youthful word that Fresno has embraced. And Roeski loves the idea that he can use this neologism to express pride in his city, even with all its rawness and reality, successes and flaws. He loves it so much that he designs artwork featuring the phrase ‘Hella Fresno’ alongside his partner, Jenn Guerrero, an embroiderer.  Roeski designs the artwork to make stickers, pins, T-shirts, and Jenn can turn them into patches. It’s ‘hella cool,’ for sure. They even named their art partnership, public art studio, and gallery space ‘Hella Fresno.’ The name says it all.

Hella Fresno is excited for you to take pride in being from Fresno and wants you to love living here as much as they do.

To Roeski and Jenn, Hella Fresno is a special space that showcases the best of the Fresno art scene. They are located at the former Bitwise building, 700 Van Ness Ave. In just a few years, they have captured this artistic spirit and shared it with the community by hosting numerous interactive art shows in the city, amassing thousands of followers across town and on social media. Hella Fresno also offers art workshops throughout the year for all ages, especially kids, and hosts a popular artist mentorship program. They were recipients of Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Grant funding last year and have applied again for this year’s round of funding.

Roeski is the curator and lead creative director of the Hella Fresno team (although he doesn’t think Jenn is any less creative). He is the recipient of the 2022 Fresno Arts Council Horizon Award, which recognizes his significant contributions to the arts in Fresno. However, according to Roeski, Jenn is the “brains of the operation,” and, according to her, she’s also the “muscles,” as she’s the one who implements art show deadlines for the highlighted artists—something crucial when working with a group of creatives. Jenn is also skilled in bookkeeping and paperwork and was instrumental in securing the Measure P grant award, which has significantly enhanced their operations and ability to provide the services they offer. Roeski and Jenn make a great team.

One of Hella Fresno’s main goals is to keep visual art alive by bringing it to underrepresented and underserved communities, especially in Downtown Fresno and the Tower District—but everywhere else in Fresno, too—including North, South, and Central Fresno, the East side, and the West side. Roeski grew up on the East side and went to Roosevelt High School, where he nurtured his artistry and developed his drawing and painting skills at the School Of The Arts.  He loves being an artist and wants to share his passion with Fresno youth at his ‘old stomping grounds’ within the city.

Another equally important goal is to support other local fellow artists by giving them exposure.

“Our original goal was basically to help out fellow artists,” Roeski admits. “That was the main goal. So it kinda evolved or morphed into just putting on these shows where we can invite artists to participate, whether it’s a solo show or a group show, where they’re able to set up and sell their art,” Roeski explains. “I mean, we’re definitely first and foremost advocates of local artists.”

Roeski wants Fresno to know about the sublimity of Fresno artists and their artwork—some of the best in the state. 

“Not that we don’t want outside people to come and do artwork in Fresno,” Roeski clarifies. “It’s just that Fresno locals should definitely look here first when searching to buy artwork, including murals,” he says, “because we got tons of local artists that can do that kind of work.”

Hella Fresno is passionate about helping out fellow artists. They came up with the idea of creating an artist storefront to sell local art.

“So if you make postcards, or if we have paintings,” Jenn explains, “we can turn them into postcards, or just something that local and visiting people alike could come out to buy—local art, Fresno souvenirs.” 

Roeski is also a socially conscious artist who uses his artwork to express his political views on current events. He is passionate about sharing this kind of art form.

“I think that’s my main passion,” Roeski confesses. “I’ve always wanted to share what I do with other people. Just like all this shit that’s cracking off with ICE in the news really had me frustrated and made me feel like I needed to do something,” he recognizes. “I had that same feeling back in 2020 when the George Floyd protests were going on and I didn’t know what to do. I felt like, you know, helpless.”  Roeski continues, “And so I just created. I mean, I start to create in these kinds of situations. Talking about current events, I made these sticker designs that say ‘Chinga tu MAGA’ [Fuck your MAGA] and ‘Chinga tu Migra’ [Fuck your Immigration Enforcement],” Roeski shares with a sense of pride.

When Latino street vendors were being violently targeted a few years back in Fresno, Roeski painted and sold exclusive portraits of them with their vendor pushcarts in solidarity and support. His heart is with the people, and his art reflects that.

Roeski created an extra special design for this past Independence Day.

“This recent design was ‘Fuck your Fourth’ just because of the shit that’s going on,” he admits. “How could I celebrate ‘fucking freedom’ when there’s Brown people getting fucking scooped up and fucking kidnapped? You know what I’m saying,” he emphasizes. “So, I went as far as saying, ‘Fuck your Fourth.’ I created this whole image that has the American flag in it with an eagle. And you know what I mean. And yeah, that’s just what I felt.”

Artists feel strongly—that’s a crucial fact—they are the pulse of society, its very gauge. Artists help the rest of us understand and process the times in which we live as they capture images, sounds, and motion that evoke empathy. Hella Fresno aims to foster this artistic freedom and empowerment within its community, while encouraging Fresno artists to emerge and develop their artistic talents. 

They exist to support local artists.

In fact, they are proud to stand behind one of their favorite local artists, Astro (IG: @astroartprojections) during her current battle against breast cancer. They have a fundraiser show scheduled for the August Arthop, on Thursday, August 7th, from 5p-9p, which will highlight Astro’s artwork for sale.  And, on Saturday, the 16th, around midday, another art show that features the donated artwork of local artists for sale is scheduled, with proceeds going to Astro.

In September, on Friday the 5th (time TBD), a special group art show is scheduled with the unique theme centered around nopales, the edible cacti that are ubiquitous in everyday Mexican cuisine. Hella Fresno is asking Mexican, Mexican-American, and Chicano artists to depict what it was like for them growing up Mexican or Mexican-American. They are asking artists to use the nopal somehow in the imagery that they create. Hella Fresno purposefully chose September for this unique show because it is the month of Mexican Independence, celebrated on September 16th, commemorating the start of the 1810 war for Mexico’s independence from Spain.

Hella Fresno is doing hella cool things in our community and for our community, and you should get involved—you don’t want to miss out on this special homegrown local piece of Fresno culture and craft.  

For more information, reach out to Roeski (IG: @o.g_roeskidoeski) and Jenn (IG: @wander.with.me); Hella Fresno: https://linktr.ee/hellafresno; https://www.hellafresno.life; email: hellafresno@gmail.com; 700 Van Ness Ave, Fresno.