Fundraiser held for Salinas friends killed in Southern California car crash
Exclusive Ink tattoo shop in Salinas was fully booked this weekend, for a cause close to the artists’ heart.
Just one week ago two tattoo artists, Ernesto Vega and his friend Fernando “Gucci” Gonzalez, were killed in a car crash in Southern California.
Their friends say they were both loved and respected in the tattoo world, making it an easy decision to hold the fundraiser to help their families with expenses. “When you have someone that has made an impact in the tattoo world or just in someone’s life you got to reward them back, you have to give back in a time of need and with something like this that was so sudden that’s what we can do, that’s all we can do is help their family out,” says close friend Moises Perez.
Perez says both men had bright futures ahead of them, “Ernesto was a young talented man, rising start. He had only been tattooing four years, two years he was here at exclusive ink and his portraits were just phenomenal, and Gucci was his canvas and other canvas artist here at exclusive ink.”
Time slots to get the tattoos filled up within a few hours of the start of the fundraiser, speaking volumes about who the victims were. “We had 102 people on Saturday and about 11 artists. But we had to start rolling people over to Sunday and by 1pm Saturday we were completely booked for the weekend. We have people coming in from Hayward, San Francisco, Pittsburg as far down as King City. It’s been a very good event, and it’s unfortunate what we’re coming together for, but at the same time it’s heartfelt because the support is their,” says Perez.
Some people came to the fundraiser to get their first tattoo, “Because it’s a good cause and We wanted to have a tattoo for years,” says Martha Cordova.
Other people like Michael Atkinson came to honor their friends. Atkinson says he looked at “Gucci” like a son so he’s getting two more tattoos to honor him, “The whole tattoo world is considered a family, but he was family to me, he really was like a son. What I got is 2 lips, he had a whole array of lips tattooed on his shoulders and around his neck and even though I have a lot of tattoos I squeezed two more in for him and his son.”
Friends say while Ernesto and Gucci are no longer with them, they know they are proud, “I think they’re really just smiling and having a joyful moment. And they genuinely see that people loved and cared for them,” says Moises.
They say two will also be honored at the 7th annual Ink at The Bay event in Monterey this year.
There are two Go Fund Me pages set up for both men..
