Iconography: A sense of Home

May. 11, 2022

May. 11, 2022 @ 12:00 pm 3:00 pm

About the Workshop

Del Valle High School

The 5th amArte workshop, A sense of Home, was held at Del Valle High School with local artist Santa Barraza . Leading a mini mural workshop on large 7’ x 4’ amate (bark) paper sheets the workshop focused on how Barraza has used iconography throughout her entire career. The art students explored and reflected on how to depict a sense of home using iconography and symbolism collaboratively. Each class created one large mini mural on amate paper and made Milagros out of embossing foil for prayers and manifestations that are unique and personal to them; these will be weaved into the amate murals.

Video

About the Artist

A native of Kingsville, Texas, Santa Contreras Barraza is a contemporary Chicana/Tejana artist and founder of Barraza Fine Art, LLC, a gallery and studio committed to furthering the appreciation of the visual arts in the Borderlands and among isolated, rural populations by showcasing creative talent.

She formerly taught at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Penn State University at University Park, and La Roche College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the summer of 2012, she taught art courses at the University of Graz in Austria. She also taught at the University of Alcala de Henares, Spain. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975 and her Master of Fine Arts in 1982 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Her artwork has been widely exhibited in the United States, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Austria, Argentina, and France. Her vita reflects a career replete with awards, appearances and lectures, exhibitions, and publications. Over her career, Barraza has explored what it means to be a Chicana. Using a variety of media, she has embarked on an artistic journey full of family portraits, watercolor dream scenes, mixed media artist books, murals, and sandpaintings that harken back to a pre-Columbian past.