Artists of the Movement

Artists of the Movement

"Part of our process has been really an extension of the methodology that Judy came up with in the Great Wall of Los Angeles project in which we work in relationship to the experiences and historical context of a community and we incorporate their work in their stories, their oral histories, and their ideas and we elevate them into public artworks." 

- Carlos Rogel, project manager, "Muralist Judy Baca and Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)." PBS, 2017.

Judy Baca, Chicana muralist

Baca, Judy. Uprising of the Mujeres. 1979.

"It's not a drop in. I'm not a drop in and a quick out artist. I'm making a relationship and a commitment. In a sense it's like I'm creating a big family." 

- Judy Baca, Chicana mural artist, Videoconference interview, 2021.

Baca, Judy. The World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear. 1990.

"I think that murals can do a lot of things. It can record the stories, as I've said. The murals can also create a sort of joyful activity in which these dialogues can occur in ways they can't just verbally. The murals also can teach people skills. Young people learn to drive trucks. They learn to set up scappling. They learn to show up to work on time. They learn to collaborate with others. They learn to get along with people of different races and different age groups." 

- Judy Baca, Chicana mural artist, Videoconference interview, 2021.

Rubert Garcia's bold graphics, both in message and style, were effective in grabbing attention. As shown with the political prisoner poster of Angela Davis, Chicano artist went beyond the Chicano audience.

Rubert Garcia, Chicano poster artist

"The genesis of this art was in the 1960s and 1970s, Gorodezky argues, and since its inception such artists as Malaquias Montoya, Rupert Garcia, Frank Romero, Patricia Rodriguez, and Yolanda M. Lopez have created an esthetics of resistance, protest, and confrontation. Their art represents not only individual artistic effort but the collective Chicano communities in which it is rooted." 

- Richard A. Garcia, history professor at Santa Monica College, "Arte Chicano Como Cultura De Protesta (Chicano Art as Protest Culture).", 1997.

Rupert García, ¡LIBERTAD PARA LOS PRISONEROS POLITICAS!, 1971, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Rupert García, Chicano Research as a Catalyst for Social Change, 1977, offset lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum

"I think if we take a deep dive into the art we would understand that it's not just a limited understanding of Mexican-American identity. We would see that there is artwork that was created by Chicana/Chicano artists that was about political prisoners and those political prisoners were not only Chicana or Chicano. There was artwork about Angela Davis as a political prisoner." 

- Katynka Martinez, Chicana/o Studies Professor at San Francisco State University, Videoconference interview, 2021.

Judithe Hernandez, Chicana muralist

"One of the things murals do is talk about contemporary issues[...] I want people to be engaged, not just a glance. They look at it and identify with the things in it." 

-Judithe Hernandez. LA Plaza Village Mural Corridor, 2019.

LA Plaza Village Mural Corridor. 2019., Judithe Hernandez.

Hernandez, Judithe. El Mundo De Barrio Sotel. 1976.

Lopez, Yolanda. Women’s Work is Never Done, 1995.

Yolanda M. Lopez, Chicana artist

"Whether Reagan was your president or Trump was your president or whether your mother was part of the working class — as my mother did doing laundry in a hotel— all the things that happened at one point in time is the context in which your art functions." 

- Yolanda Lopez, Chicana artist, Las Maestras Center, 2020.

 Ramos, Joe. Juan R. Fuentes. 2008

Fuentes, Juan. Build a Revolutionary Student Movement, 1976.

"It took awhile to decide I was gonna be an artist. I think it was after having graduated from school and then basically working in the community and doing things for community events and community struggles that were going on. Doing posters that were needed and that various community organizations needed or political organizations needed, that basically solidified it." 

- Juan Fuentes, Chicano artist, Telephone interview, 2021.

Fuentes, Juan.​ Sueño de las Sirenas, 2008.​​​​​​

Fuentes, Juan. Rigoberta Menchu, 1993.​​​​​​​