Humanities Scholars Lecture Series: Juan Tejeda

Art Talks – Humanities Scholars Lectures Series in conjunction with the exhibition, Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Más en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s highlights Chicano and Chicana artists in Austin, Texas during “El Movimiento” (The Chicano Civil Rights Movement).

Title: A Personal Testimonio: The Convergence of the Chicano Movement, Chicano Studies and the Xicano/a Cultural Renaissance in Austin, Texas, 1972-1980

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, for eight years, from 1972-1980, Juan Tejeda writes, “I lived and worked in Austin, first as a student at the University of Texas, then as a Chicano Movement activist and cultural worker that participated in various aspects of the Xicano/a Cultural Renaissance in the East Austin Chicano barrio and community. This plática and personal testimonio chronicles those years and the important work we did as young poets, writers, artists, musicians and danzantes with such organizations and projects as the first Mexican American Cultural Committee at U.T. Austin, MAYO (Mexican American Youth Organization), CASA (first, Chicano Art Students Association at U.T., then Chicanos Artistas Sirviendo a Aztlan), Conjunto Aztlan, Festival Estudiantil Chicano de Arte y Literatura (a city-wide festival of Chicano art and literature for grades K-12 with the Austin Independent School District), Xinachtli (the first Mexica-Azteca Conchero dance group in Texas), and LUChA (League of United Chicano Artists). This early work served as a training ground for many of us in the furtherance of the social justice and liberation ideals and goals of the Chicano Movement, which has continued to guide us and manifest itself in our life’s work in the Xicanx Arts, Xicanx Studies and various cultural arts organizations across the state over the last fifty years.”