Melvin Toledo is a Nicaraguan-born, self-taught, and award-winning artist based in Tucker, GA. His creative journey began in his teenage years, with a passion for drawing manga and cartoon characters. After taking some lessons at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, he spent over six years as a painter of colorful still life paintings for his uncle’s business in Honduras.
Melvin moved to the United States after marrying his girlfriend Lauren, an American Peace Corps volunteer. His current work is deeply influenced by his experiences as an immigrant and his love for people and storytelling. He is now focusing on a series of portraits of immigrants living in the United States. Through his art, he amplifies the narratives of individuals from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, seeking to celebrate and pay homage to their lives, contributions, and cultural heritage.  By exploring the complexities of the immigrant experience, Melvin addresses the paradox of a nation purportedly built by and for immigrants, yet often marked by instances of rejection toward those seeking refuge and opportunity within its borders
Recent exhibitions include Beyond the Borders at Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Something to Declare at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Bullets and Bandaids Volume 4 traveling exhibition; New York Latin American Triennial in NYC.                     In April 2022 he won the 2D People’s Choice Award at ArtFields, Lake City, SC. 
He lives and works in Tucker, GA.