PROJECT: 2025 HERO[series]
LOCATION: Grand Rapids, Michigan
VETERAN: Jilmar Ramos-Gomez
BRANCH: U.S. Marines
DESIGNER: Rico Padilla
VIDEOGRAPHER:Avias Cruz, AVES Films
VENUE: HAS HEART, Nido: The Urban Nest
PARTNER: Experience Grand Rapids
Created by U.S. Marine veteran Jilmar Ramos-Gomez and artist/designer Enrique “Rico” Padilla, “No Loco” draws inspiration from the art form that helped Jilmar begin healing after one of the darkest chapters of his life. Following a severe PTSD episode that led to his unlawful detention by ICE, Jilmar was admitted to a psychiatric ward, where he was introduced to blackout poetry, a creative process of finding meaning through redaction. The act of isolating words to reveal new truths became a metaphor for reclaiming control from chaos.
At the heart of the piece stands a closed-eyed Marine, surrounded by abstract disorder that mirrors the confusion and intensity of living with PTSD. From that turmoil emerges a gentle stream of leaves and flowing water, representing the peace Jilmar now experiences through therapy, medication, and self-work.
The flower growing from his rifle embodies the transformation from death into life. The ladybug pays tribute to the good-luck charm that always appeared on his uniform before missions in Afghanistan; the one day it didn’t appear marked his unit’s most harrowing battle.
The title, “No Loco,” originates from Jilmar’s blackout poem but also reclaims the insult once used by an off-duty police officer who repeatedly reached out to ICE to check his “status,” even referring to Jilmar as “loco,” in his email. The phrase now stands as a defiant affirmation of identity, strength, and truth.
Through “No Loco,” Jilmar and Rico hope to inspire others to seek peace, clarity, and purpose—especially those navigating PTSD or other mental health challenges. Their work serves as a testament to resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of art.
After watching the documentary screening of “Citizen: The Story of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez,” by Jose Guadalupe Jimenez Jr., at Wealthy Street Theatre in Grand Rapids, we reached out to Jilmar to see if he’d be interested in sharing this story through a different medium: a HERO[series] design project.
When we explored who the artist and videographers could be, we wanted to reach out to local creatives that were also at that screening since they’d have an initial knowledge and understanding of his story. That decision was an easy one: Enrique “Rico” Padilla from NIDO: The Urban Nest to be our artist and his close-collaborator, Avias Cruz from AVES Films.
As with everyone of our projects, going all the way back to 2010 when Michael and Tyler first met, we start with COFFEE.
DAY 01: COFFEE + CONVERSATION
Rico and Jilmar met at our [HAS HEART] Coffee Shop, each ordered their favorite espresso drinks, and got started in the back couch corner getting to know one another.
Over the past 10+ years of facilitating these initial conversations between a veteran and a creative, who often times don’t know one another and have very different life experiences and interests, we’ve developed a HERO[series] project worksheet packet that helps guide the conversations and offers prompts and questions. With Rico and Jilmar, however, we hardly needed to refer to these sheets. They very quickly started diving into Jilmar’s experience in the Marines, starting with the story of how difficult it was for him to enlist and be accepted.
His first run with the Marines didn’t go so well. On a snowy winter morning, he made it less than a quarter-mile. Instead of the group leaving him behind, they came back for him and put him in the front of the line, cementing his place with the saying, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”
After graduating from high school, Jilmar went to boot camp. He was soon deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as an M1A1 Tank Crewman (MOS 1812) from 2011 to 2013.
While deployed, he went out on missions nearly every single day. He began noticing a ladybug on his uniform, tank, and weapons before leaving the base. Eventually, this ladybug became a good luck charm, a small token of encouragement before being called out on missions that were never certain he’d come back from alive or whole.
While his deployments were treacherous and dangerous, Jilmar would eventually discover how much harder the battle gets when it’s over. You’re back home without the same direction, purpose, and camaraderie. This was when his PTSD became his new daily deployment.
In an effort to self-medicate, Jilmar would turn to alcohol and get blacked out drunk to prevent the night terrors. One of his worst PTSD episodes in 2018 found him getting arrested for trespassing onto the helipad of a Grand Rapids hospital. During this time, an off-duty police chief repeatedly reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asking for them to check on his “status” based upon his name and appearance (despite Jilmar having his U.S. passport and military dog tags with him). Jilmar was unlawfully detained for several days. This prompted a slew of media reports and the ACLU of Michigan taking on his case. For more on this portion of Jilmar’s story, we suggest you watch the documentary, “Citizen: The Story of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez,” by Jose Guadalupe Jimenez Jr.
At the lowest point in his life, while detained and in the psych ward, Jilmar was introduced to blackout poetry, a creative process that became both an outlet and a lifeline. This process became a way for Jilmar to express his feelings and emotions by redacting letters and words from a body of text. Coupled with a lot of self-work, therapy sessions, and proper medication, this creative outlet jump-started Jilmar on his journey of recovery and being able to live with PTSD.
As we neared the end of the first day, Rico and Jilmar already had plenty of ideas, concepts, and pages of inspiration to begin building their design. The next step was for Rico to begin putting ideas on paper, or in his case, canvas.
DAY 02-03: DESIGN REVIEW
After downloading and decompressing, Rico returned to his creative studio and boutique shop, NIDO: The Urban Nest, and began researching, brainstorming, sketching, collaging, painting, and drawing to start visually translating some of Jilmar’s story. As a designer, this is always the most challenging task, but it’s also one of the most fun and fulfilling.
The crew gathered at NIDO to review Rico’s progress and begin finalizing the details and message their collaborative piece will convey:
Through “No Loco,” Jilmar and Rico hope to inspire others to seek peace, clarity, and purpose—especially those navigating PTSD or other mental health challenges. Their work serves as a testament to resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of art.
PRINTING PROCESS
With the design now finalized, it was time to produce their collaborative products onto American-made T-shirts, screenprinted posters, and sticker decals.
Our purpose in producing these HERO[series] diesngs and stories into physical products is to give others the opportunity to support this veteran personally, and to be able to further share their story on the veteran’s behalf. So, when they get asked, “What does your shirt/sticker/poster mean?,” they are able to share a piece of Jilmar’s story with them, shrinking the divide between the veteran and civilian worlds.
