Five Years Later, I’m Officially Part of the ArtPop Family

There are certain moments in your career where you have to stop and really take it all in. Seeing my artwork on a billboard in Times Square was one of those moments.

Earlier this year, I was selected as one of the artists for the 2026 ArtPop Street Gallery class. If you know anything about my journey with ArtPop, you know this wasn’t my first time applying. It was my fifth...

Junior Gomez standing in front of his billboard in Charlotte, NC

Five years of submitting my work. Five years of seeing that email come through and not seeing my name on the list. And somehow, through all of those years, I never really felt like ArtPop wasn’t for me. If anything, I felt like I was already part of the family, I was just waiting for my turn.

My relationship with ArtPop goes back to the beginning of my journey as a full-time artist. When I decided to take the leap and pursue art full-time in 2021, I was looking for any opportunity I could find to get my work out there. I remember driving around Charlotte and seeing an artist's work on a billboard and thinking, How do you even get your artwork up there?

Junior Gomez posing with artwork

That eventually led me to ArtPop and to Wendy Hickey.

Even before I was selected for the billboard program, Wendy saw something in my work. ArtPop gave me opportunities to participate in Inspiration Projects and put me in spaces where I could create, connect with people, and most importantly, start seeing myself differently as an artist.

Those opportunities came at a time when I really needed them. I was still trying to figure out what being a full-time artist even looked like. I didn't have all the answers. I didn't have this long list of accomplishments. I was just creating, saying yes to opportunities and trying to build something. The Inspiration Projects gave me confidence. And sometimes that's all you need.

You need someone else to see something in you before you fully see it in yourself.

That's what ArtPop did for me. They gave me a platform before I had a billboard. They made me feel supported before I was officially selected. And I think that's what makes their mission so special. ArtPop isn't just about putting beautiful artwork on billboards. They're creating visibility for artists. They're putting artists in rooms, creating opportunities and showing communities that art deserves to take up space. BIG space.

Junior Gomez Artwork in Times Square NY

So every year, I kept applying.

I didn't look at not being selected as a reason to stop. I looked at it as, maybe not this year. And eventually, my year came.

Five applications later, I was selected.

Then somehow this journey took me from seeing ArtPop billboards while driving around Charlotte to getting on a plane and flying back to my hometown of New York City to see MY OWN artwork in Times Square. That sentence still sounds crazy to me.

Standing there in Times Square, looking up and seeing my name and my artwork on those massive screens was something I'll never forget. I'm from Harlem. New York is where my story started. Charlotte is where I took the chance on myself and became a full-time artist. And now something I created with my own hands was being shown in the middle of Times Square. I just stood there looking up.

Grateful.

Junior Gomez standing in front of his billboard in Times Square NY

Grateful for ArtPop. Grateful for Wendy. Grateful for every opportunity that came before this one. Grateful for every year I applied and didn't get selected. And honestly, grateful that I kept going. Because five years ago, I probably would've looked at that billboard and thought, Man, imagine if that was my work up there.

Now it is.

ArtPop has been part of my journey long before I could officially call myself an ArtPop Street Gallery artist. They helped give me some of the confidence I needed to get my career off the ground, and they've continued to create opportunities not just for me, but for so many artists who are trying to find their place in this world. Now having my own billboard feels like I've officially been welcomed into the family. And damn, it feels good.

Junior Gomez Billboard in Charlotte NC

Thank you ArtPop for believing in artists. Thank you for believing in the power of visibility. Thank you for giving us spaces to be seen, opportunities to grow and reasons to keep pushing. And to anybody who has applied for something multiple times and keeps getting told no:

Keep applying.

Keep creating.

Keep showing up.

Sometimes the opportunity isn't saying no.

Sometimes it's just saying, not yet.

Five years later, I finally understand that.