​Jade Cruz is a queer gender expansive Chicanx visual artist, muralist, teaching artist, and youth/cultural worker, based on Tiwa Pueblo land, aka Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their practice encompasses painting, digital illustration and murals, activated and emerging as a response to injustice, grief, and love. Rooted in the understanding that art serves as a form of radical storytelling, education, and collective healing, they honor their artistic and ancestral lineage to continue the legacy of creative liberatory practices. Incorporating symbolism drawn from flora and fauna specific to their environment and cultural lineage, their artwork features bold, vibrant colors that weave together themes of spirituality, gender identity, honoring life and death, and addressing social justice issues. Cruz works alongside various organizations, grassroots projects, schools, museums, and cultural art centers, primarily working with youth and people of color. Committed to using art as a tool for education, justice, and healing, Cruz continues to explore new ways to empower through creative expression.