Miembros Newsletter: May / June 2022

From the Director

Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Mas en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s Marks a Historic Achievement

Mexic-Arte Museum inaugurated with tremendous pride and joy, Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Mas en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s with over five hundred guests viewing the exhibit throughout the evening.  It was a reunion of artists, activists, professors, musicians, poets, cultural workers, lowriders, La Raza, La Comunidad y mas!   We laughed; we hugged, we danced; we reminisced what we experienced and created more than forty years ago – the beginning of Chicano/a art, cultura and our centros in Austin.  We refelt las ganas, the hope and dreams that inspired all of us to pick up the paintbrush, the accordion, the pen, the camera and simultaneously hit the streets with the protest signs in one hand and hope in the other to create a better world for nuestra gente.  We were young, full of energy and packed with ideas of how we could make a place para la gente, para los niños.  

On April 8, 2022, we were together again rejoicing and dancing to the música de Conjunto Aztlan founded in the 1970s and tapping our feet to Chulita Vinyl Club the new generation of musicians in the mist of paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, poems, books, posters documents  – all evidence of history of our victories and our struggles.

Los artistas were here – some in person and some in spirit,  many who studied art at The University of Texas at Austin, Tito Aguirre, M.A. Ambray Gonzales, Alicia Arredondo, Alicia Barraza, Santa Barraza, Sam Coronado, Nancy de los Santos, Nora González Dodson, Carolina Flores, Rey Gaytan,  Carmen Lomas Garza, Mary Jane Garza, Marsha Gomez, Luis Guerra, Juan Pablo Gutierrez, Luis Gutierrez, Bruce Harnett, Bill Leissner,  Sylvia Orozco, Janis Palma, Amado Peña, Yolanda Petrocelli, Alan Pogue, Pio Pulido, Manuel “Chaca” Ramirez, Pedro Rodriguez, Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez, Marta Sanchez, José Treviño, Modesta Treviño, and Raul Valdez, and murals by the next generation Master Muralist Amado Castillo III with Amado Castillo IV.

The musicians, poets, collectors, gatherers of history also attended including Juan Tejeda and the Conjunto Aztlan, Jose Flores, Clemencia Zapata, Victor Guerra, Raquel and David Elizondo, Gilbert and Jane Rivera, Martha and Juan Cotera, Gil Cardenas and Dolores Carrillo Garcia, Maggie Rivas, Brown Berets and other community members. The Austin Lowriding car club in shining styled autos of the 1960s and 70s welcomed crowds outside.

Maestro Pedro Meyer graciously accepted our invitation to attend the opening reception once again as he had in 1979.   Maestro Meyer, the prominent photographer, artist and visual historian who forty-three years before, captured all of us at the first international Chicano Mexicano Conferencia Plástica Chicano in Austin.  His 1979 photos LINK HERE to video of photos  flashed on the screen reminding us of our youth and aspirations.  In organizing this exhibit, Modesta Treviño quickly reminded us that Pedro Meyer, then Presidente del Consejo de Fotografia, was one of the artists that participated in and documented the entire Conferencia in photos.  As an archeologist that uncovers the past, after contacting Pedro Meyer Archive and reconnecting with Maestro Meyer, we discovered the photos of the Conferencia Plástica Chicana in the Archivo Pedro Meyer.  To celebrate Maestro Meyer’s visionary work, the Maestro along with the photographers, Elena Rosales and Gabriela Olmedo were invited to Austin to attend this historic event.

Austin Council Member Pio Renteria on behalf of Mayor Steve Adler and the City Council of Austin, Texas presented the Title of Honorary Resident to Pedro Meyer for his contribution and documentation of Austin’s history.  In accepting this honor, Maestro Meyer commented on his photos as an archive:

“Taking pictures is not really the important thing.  It’s finding them 43 years later.  The importance is the archive.  I mention this because what you are doing here is an archive for future generations, and I think that this is significantly as important as the art itself.    Because if you don’t preserve the image and find it and have records, it wasn’t worth having had done it in the first place.   So, I think that everything gets lost, unless it is found again. And that is why, Sylvia made such a deep impression on me 43 years ago.  Although, she was a small young kid which she is still in some degree….so thank you very much for inviting us. Thank you for sharing with us.   I’m profoundly impressed with what you have accomplished, and the effort that it needs with all those years is truly represented here and I hope no one takes it for granted. It takes a lot of effort, and all of you and this collective effort shows, so thank you very much for inviting us. I will cherish this very much, as a memory,  and friendship and the importance of looking out after each other.”

Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Mas en Austen, Tejas documents the past but it also inspires hundreds to thousands of people viewing the exhibit today. Organizations flourished out of the efforts of the artists and community members – CASA, Chicano Art Student Association; MAS, Mujeres Artistas del Suroeste;  CMAS, the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT;  Ballet Folklorico Aztlán, Roy Lozano ’s Ballet Folklórico,  Diseño Studios, Galería Sin Fronteras were  products of that time.   La Pena, Mexic-Arte Museum later developed and continue today in the day-to-day lucha to establish dignified places for nuestra cultura, para toda la comunidad.  “We will always be here.” A woman commented in response in 1983 when asked her opinion of the wrecker ball hitting the face of the indigenous woman depicted on the Los Elementos mural by Raul Valdez on the Juarez Lincoln Building where LUChA was housed.   We repeat this today. We will always be here – Nuestra cultura will always be here.   From the bottom de mi corazon – a heartfelt thank you to all the artists, collectors, sponsors and Mexic-Arte Museum team for making a reality, Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Mas en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s, the first exhibition to document the Chicano/a art movement in Austin.

Executive Director

Sylvia Orozco

Exhibits

Creating a Cultural Context

As viewers enter Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Más en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s they are confronted by striking photographs of protest. When looking at the photographs coupled with explanatory text, we begin to grasp an understanding of the turbulent times that surrounded the Chicano art movement in Austin. 

The earliest photographs in this section of the exhibition concern the economy furniture strike that began on November 27, 1968. This strike against the Economy Furniture Company lasted for twenty-eight months to gain collective bargaining with Economy, one of the largest suppliers of furniture in the southwest. Eventually the strikers were successful, achieving a guarantee of annual wage increases, seniority, overtime, additional vacation, and other benefits including up to $13,500 in back pay per worker. This victory was a powerful step for the Chicano movement and showed how, collectively, the Chicano community was able to come together to acquire real change towards a more equitable society. This section includes photographs by Alan Pogue, an award-winning photographer based in Austin.

Another large protest movement that was taking place on behalf of just labor practices was a push for equity in farm labor. On February 26, 1977, members of the Texas Farm Workers Union (TFW) and supporters began a 420 miles march from San Juan, Texas, a town near the Texas/Mexico border, to Austin, Texas. The TFW organized the March for Human Rights to bring awareness to unjust labor practices placed upon farm workers and to gain political support for collective bargaining rights legislation. The journey to Austin took nearly two months and ended at the capitol. The march was captured by several Austin-based photographers and artists, some featured in this section. In June, the group headed to Washington, D.C. to continue their journey for better treatment. This section includes photographs by Luis Gutierrez, Yolanda Petrocelli, and Alan Pogue.

A push for just labor practices was not the only concern of the Chicano movement in Austin or nationally. A battle against personal and systemic racism was also at the lead of the Chicano movements’ priorities. In the 1970s and 1980s the Klu Klux Klan staged a march to the Texas State Capitol Building in protest of immigration policies. Film and photo documentation from the time captures Klan members dressed in hooded robes walking down Congress Avenue among counter protestors. The photographs featured in this exhibition encourage us to face this group and ask ourselves, in the light of renewed racial division in the United State: Have things really changed or not since those precarious times? This section includes photographs by Bill Leissner, Alan Pogue, and Gilbert Rivera.

Systemic racial injustice was also at issue with the Chicano movement in Austin. One of the ways that this racism presented itself in these times was in the form of police brutality. In 1977 Jose “Joe” Campo Torres, an American Vietnam Veteran was killed by police officers. None of the six officers responsible for the death of Torres were charged with murder and were, at most, initially given one year of probation. This inequality in the legal system motivated Chicanos to protest in Houston and Austin. The protest in Austin is captured in this section. These protests eventually led to the greater police oversight and change. This section includes photographs by Sylvia Orozco, Nancy de los Santos, and Gilbert Rivera.

The last grouping of photographs in this section also connects to an Austin battle against systemic racism. In the 1960s and 1970s East Austin’s Town Lake was home to “Aqua Fest” a speed boat race competition held over the course of three weekends a year. The amount of noise, increased traffic, and trash left behind by event goers led the East Austin community, a predominately Mexican American community, to push for the event to be canceled. In 1979 a protest against the boat races between east Austin community residents and boat race supporters turned violent when police officers and boat race supporters fought against the east Austin residents. This violence, much of it captured on film by a local news organization led to that being the last year the boat races were held. This section includes several photos by Manuel “Chaca” Ramirez and Alan Pogue.

This time of turbulence, violence, progress, and radical change has been captured in the photographs of this section and on film. As you look at the photographs in this section, see how then, as in now, protest, unity and a commitment to social justice can make your life, community, country, and world a better, more equitable place.

Upcoming Changarrito with Karla García in June

Support the upcoming June 2022 Changarrito Artist, Karla García! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates on García’s posts that lead to the Instagram Live interview that takes place virtually through the Museum’s Instagram account @mexic_arte on June 30, 2022.

About the Artist: Karla García is a Mexican born, American-based artist that creates installations and sculptures with clay, found objects, and other symbolic materials about her Mexican heritage and migration. Her research-based artwork is a connecting point from her own history, ancient histories, and how these shape her identity, noting that, “I hope that my work can be a catalyst for the public to experience a little bit of our human history in unexpected ways.”

Artist Statement: Migration is often times a necessity for a better life. As individuals, we carry the memories of our homes, friendships, and our own unique stories. This body of work is a continuation of my previous explorations of migration and memory. My work is rooted in the desert landscapes of the cities I grew up in Mexico and the United States. Cacti plants are translated into organic sculptures made with terracotta clay. The sculptural forms connect the plant, the body, and earth, vary in scale, and represent memories that have been eroded by time.

Collections

Selections from the Permanent Collection

Pedro Meyer Donates El Diablo y la Reyna de America

This photograph was taken by the prominent photographer, educator, editor, curator, and author Pedro Meyer. In 1979 a contingent of Mexican artists and scholars were brought together by Sylvia Orozco to go to Austin to attend and participate in the Conferencia Plástica Chicana. This conference was the first international conference that convened Mexican, Latin American, and Chicano artists and art professionals. This conference was carried out with the intention of bringing together these communities, sharing ideas, sharing art, and advancing new concepts. This conference was followed by an exhibition titled 10 x 10 in 1981, which focused on ten Mexican photographers and traveled to four U.S. cities; Austin, Texas, San Francisco, California, Los Angeles, California, and New York, New York. 10 x 10 was coordinated by and primarily sponsored by LUChA (The League of United Chicano Artists). The connections continued with Sylvia Orozco and Pio Pulido acting as international relations for the exhibition.

More than four decades since the Conferencia Plástica Chicana, the relationship between Mexican American, Latin American, and Chicano/a artists continues as this photograph, El Diablo y la Reyna de America is featured prominently in Chicano/a Art, Movimiento y Más en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s and has been donated by Pedro Meyer to enter Mexic-Arte Museum’s permanent collection.

Welcome Maia Castillo, the New Mexic-Arte Digital Media Associate!

Recently graduating from St. Edward’s University with a BA in Photography and Media Arts with a minor in Graphic Design. They have decided to continue their career at Mexic-Arte. Previously introduced as the Graphic Design intern in February Maia is now the new Digital Media Associate. Maia hopes to continue to grow in an environment that can foster creativity and learn more about the history and art works at the Museum.