by Tim Froberg
LOCAL ARTIST MAKING MAGIC WITH MURALS
Art has no boundaries.
It’s not limited to framed paintings hanging in indoor galleries or sculptures mounted to bases.
Art can be seen on outdoor walls, reflecting messages of social advocacy, community identity, historical reflection, and cultural storytelling.
Meet Irineo “Neo” Medina: the man behind the murals in the Fox Cities.
The local artist, advocate, and youth mentor has created more than 30 colorful and powerful murals over the past decade across Appleton and Wisconsin. He does roughly five to seven murals each summer and recently completed his annual Paint the City project, where he worked with 20 students from the Appleton Area School District for nearly two weeks to create another spectacular mural that can be seen on the outside walls of Spats Food & Spirits.
It was the fifth year for the community project, which brings young people together and gives them a chance to collaborate with a professional artist while learning about art, teamwork, social issues, and the communities they live in.
Many of the students come from marginalized backgrounds and have not been involved in school-related projects. But Paint the City gives them a sense of accomplishment and belonging.
“It’s always a lot of project management,” said Medina. “But I love seeing the looks on the faces of the kids and their families when we’re finished. To me, that means a lot more than the actual painting. For some of them, Paint the City is one of the big things they have done during their high school careers.
“Seeing them on a public stage being able to hold the power of influence and culture — and to have so many people walk by and see what they’ve done — is amazing. It’s such a cool and profound thing to watch these students become who they really want to be inside.”
Paint the City has been recognized and lauded by Gov. Tony Evers and nominated for a Wisconsin Governor’s Tourism “Bright Idea” Award.
“I didn’t know that we were going to even make it one year,” said Medina. “To make it five years and to be recognized on a statewide level is just mind-blowing.”
MESSAGING THROUGH MURALS
Medina is a skilled and accomplished artist who holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He has experience with traditional canvas art, but finds mural work more satisfying, giving him a platform to deliver messages that reflect on community pride and identity along with social climate and societal needs.
He strives to keep his messages positive, as with his 2026 Paint the City work: a 3,000-square-foot mural of hands layered and clasped together in a rainbow of colors. The mural was designed to thank everyone in the Appleton community who has been involved in the annual project.
“It was unbelievable,” said Nick Kapheim, who owns Spats along with his wife, Bri. “Neo is more than just an artist. He’s someone who brings people in the community together. Before it started, I didn’t really know what we were getting into. But as the project progressed and all the children were around, it was something special to see him lead 20 kids and make a difference in their lives.
“It was awesome. Some of these kids were really interested in art, and some kids were just looking for something to do. At the end, I think everybody really got something out of it.”
The importance of diversity and inclusivity is often reflected in Medina’s murals, and he doesn’t dodge controversial subjects such as racial injustice and inequality. One of Medina’s best-known works was a 2020 mural near the intersection of College Avenue and Appleton Street across from Houdini Plaza following the death of George Floyd. The mural was titled For Us and addressed the need for unity by showing two hands — overflowing with swatches of different colors — reaching toward a glowing sun.
“I’m incredibly proud that I’m able to provide something of value to the community,” Medina said. “I try to make my work reflective of the community around it. It’s great to be able to provide opportunities for people to see themselves through that mural and to just have art in their daily lives. Just observing the foot traffic and knowing the mural is going to be a part of people’s daily lives means a lot to me.”
“I want people to know this is art. This is about their community, and it’s free and accessible. They can stop by any time and look at it. I feel incredibly humbled that I can help provide that.”
Mural artistry is more challenging than traditional art in many ways. Walls basically serve as the canvas Medina works on and provide far more space to cover. It can be physically demanding and downright grueling.
“I’ve blown out my right knee twice due to painting,” said Medina. “I have no more meniscus in that knee. But I love doing mural art. I’ve been studying graffiti and street art for decades, and there is a long list of people who have inspired me.”
CONNECTING WITH YOUTH
In addition to his mural work, Medina holds down a full-time job with the Appleton Area School District, mentoring high school and elementary school students and advocating for them when necessary. He also runs the Latino clubs at the Appleton high schools.
In 2025, Medina was honored by Insight Publications as one of its 40 Under 40 Award recipients. The award recognizes several of the most innovative and influential young professionals under age 40 making a strong impact in Northeast Wisconsin. Medina also serves on the board of the Trout Museum of Art and was named as one of Wisconsin’s 36 most influential Latino leaders in 2024.
“The kids I work with inspire me with their energy and youthfulness,” he said. “A lot of times it’s easy to write off a teenager as apathetic. But when you get past that teenage wall, there’s so much brilliance and radiance.
“I didn’t find my voice until I was 20 or 21. So to be able to help give these students the tools, whether it’s through art or whatever passion they may have, to find their voice, that’s so meaningful to me. A lot of my influence and drive comes from wanting to build future leaders.
“Sometimes when I sit in board meetings, I don’t look the part. I’m not a suit-and-tie guy. I’ve got tattoos. And very seldom are there more than two people of color at these meetings. I ask myself: how can I help so that in 15 years our community leaders look a little different?”
OVERCOMING A TROUBLED YOUTH
Medina understands the challenges, difficulties, and dilemmas that teens face because he dealt with many of them himself. He’s very candid and open about the struggles he faced and troubles he experienced while growing up in Sheboygan.
“I had a single mom, and we were pretty poor,” he said. “A lot of the influences that were around me weren’t so great. My dad lived a lot of his life in Chicago in the Cabrini-Green area in the late ‘80s, so gang culture was big and prolific. That’s the kind of messages that we were inundated with.
“The year I was born, Sheboygan was voted the safest city to raise a family in America. That wasn’t the Sheboygan that I experienced. By the time I was 18, my brother had been stabbed three times, and I had been stabbed. My brother almost died.
“A lot of it had to do with families like mine where the parents or elders come from places like Texas or Chicago. They bring with them that lifestyle, and younger folks like myself and my cousins tried to emulate that.
“That’s the world I lived in: fighting, drugs, and drinking at a young age.”
Medina eventually ran into some serious trouble with the law and was expelled from college for a felony tied to a fight. The felony was eventually expunged, and Medina returned to school and got serious about art.
“It was a huge turning point in my life,” he said.
Medina had a pair of professors in the fine arts department at UW-Oshkosh (Jeff Lipschutz and Gail Panske) who took an interest in his considerable talents and encouraged him to pursue art.
“Growing up in Sheboygan, I had never stepped foot into an art museum,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I belonged and struggled to find a version of myself that meant success. But when I was a kid, I loved to draw and always had an interest in art. I had some great professors that really pushed me, and art became my first-ever voice.
“Previously, I had felt my whole life that my voice didn’t matter. I had some really unfortunate experiences with the law, teachers, and authority in general and how they chose to put me down — based on race or my family — that sticks with me.
“When my art teacher started pushing me about art, that voice that nobody cared about in the past — all of a sudden it mattered. People were suddenly interested in what I had to say and what my art was about.”
It didn’t take long for Medina to realize that he had a passion for art and advocacy.
“My eyes opened up to art,” Medina said. “I realized I loved this stuff on skateboards. I loved Chicano-style art with tattoos and the low-rider culture. So I started making art about my experiences as a third-generation Mexican American, and from there it just blossomed. I may not have been the best artist, but I don’t think anyone in my class spent as much time in that art building as I did. It’s like I lived there.”
When he’s not involved in an art project or working with young people, Medina enjoys basketball, skateboarding, and spending time with his three children: Jax, 14; Coco, 7; and Vivian, 3. He says his children have been another source of inspiration for his artwork.
This article was originally published in the October 2026 issue of Appleton Monthly Magazine.
