An Inspiration Across Cultures
Public art conquers so much more than the simple task of making the street a little easier to look at. It involves those who created it, those who supplied the means to create it, and those whose lives it continues to impact. Wall paintings in particular take an important role in working for a greater good. Judith F. Baca, a Hispanic-American woman and artist- activist has contributed an unaccountable amount to the mural movement in Los Angeles. She has accomplished this by giving individuals the chance to create art and develop a sense of pride, she has taught younger generations a respect for their ethnic identity, and from the many walks of life that continue to view her
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The simple fact that Baca is a woman is extremely important when it comes to evaluating her impact on others. Being a woman and reaching out for social change the way that Judy Baca does takes much dedication and passion. Bell hooks writes about the commodification of women in the art world: “...an undiscerning marketplace seeks to confine, limit, and even destroy our artistic freedom and practice.” (Hooks 1981, 17). While Baca comes from the historically challenged feminine perspective, she can reach the youth that she works with because of their disadvantaged perspective as well. They are more apt to listen and learn from her because she has already overcome the challenge of succeeding in as a Hispanic American woman in a patriarchal society.
Baca’s commitment led her to found the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) along with film maker Donna Dietch and artist Christina Schlesinger in Venice, California. SPARC has facilitated in the creation, preservation and documentation of public art in the Los Angeles area. In this way SPARC has been able to get the community involved in art and has given a voice to peoples of color. In addition, the center has organized symposia and exhibitions that draw attention to the multitude of cultures that make up the area as well as the entire country (Brown 1996, 28).
Baca began work on SPARC's first
Her paintings expressed topics that where consider taboos in the 1930´s, for example, in her painting “Henry Ford Hospital” she expressed the physical and emotional pain a women haves to go through when it comes to the miscarriage of a child. She is inspiring to women because, she didn’t censored herself with art and the topics covered with it, this helped women understand themselves in higher level.
According to the article, local artists encourage to paint the legal wall in Santa Fe. It does not mean just a painting but also mean the opportunity to speak their voice to the community. The influences of the local youth culture in Santa Fe are enormous in the society. First of all, the tendency of young people that they turn to alcohol, drugs, or anti-social behaviors have been shifted to a positive way. Also, the legal graffiti wall gave
Murals are the quintessential public art embodying the spirit of the community in which they are created. They say this is who we are, this is what we think, this is where we come from, and this is what we want, reflecting most clearly any changes in the sociopolitical environment. Murals lay out a powerful visual image of the ideology of their creators or sponsors, be it the Church during the Renaissance, government funded projects, or individuals expressing opposition. In Mexico, after the Mexican Revolution of 1917, the government commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural
The intersection of social movements and Art is one that can be observed throughout the civil right movements of America in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The sixties in America saw a substantial cultural and social change through activism against the Vietnam war, women’s right and against the segregation of the African - American communities. Art became a prominent method of activism to advocate the civil rights movement. It was a way to express self-identity as well as the struggle that people went through and by means of visual imagery a way to show political ideals and forms of resistance. To examine how a specific movement can have a profound effects on the visual art, this essay will focus on the black art movement of the 1960s and
Feminist artist Betye Saar was born on July 30, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Her father died when she was five years old; after that her family moved to Pasadena, California. To make a living for the family, Saar’s mother became a seamstress and also recycled and reused a lot of daily scraps that weren’t used to make things that her children needed. The remaking and looking over everyday house things influences some of Betye Saar’s later work. Betye Saar’s art career began in 1945 where she went to The University of California Los Angeles and majored in design. She received a bachelor’s in design in 1949 but worked as a social worker and continued design on the side. She back to college, California State University at Long Beach, in 1958 to get a degree in education in which she was very successful in receiving. In Long Beach, Saar was introduced to and got very acquainted with printmaking. This was the start of her artistic career and soon she began to do artwork that incorporated various themes such as
As a placebo for a changing guard, La Virgen de Guadalupe proved highly successful. The iconic image of La Virgen de Guadalupe remains static in both form and symbolism until the mid twentieth century, when a new movement among Mexican-Americans emerges in California, dubbed the Chicano movement. As visual propaganda becomes a large part of the movement, a significant body of art with common themes and styles, known as Chicano art, follows. This shift in subject matter among Mexican-American artists toward a specific social and political agenda began earlier, as evidenced by the work of Rivera, Orozco, and Posada, but, it isn’t until the mid 1960’s that national or religious iconographic images are recycled to support a larger political or social agenda.
Without a doubt, The Hispanic Society of America is a museum where the artwork does not show Hispanic people fighting, but instead, it shows a healthy image. A visitor of the museum said, in a 2016 article that “one feels transported to another time and another place.” This shows that when you are in the museum, you can concentrate, and feel peaceful. You can feel what the paintings are trying to communicate in the most comfortable way possible.
When she came out to California she became a young adult at the age of 24, and was granted a job at Berkeley College as a teacher assistant in the science, and math department. She was able to find long term friends, and get in touch with her being an activist, strong mother, and a liberal fighter. She got involved with supporting her Black students anyway she could,
She did not let that stop her and her ideas. In her earlier years everyday she would embrace a new idea. Thomas knew that she was capable of being normal. She is wonderful! Alma Thomas would create her own colors just to pin-point the right expressions. Thomas was well aware of her surroundings. She payed attention to the racial prejudice around her, and in the world. Thomas was and independent woman who searched for quality and she was dedicated in helping young black artist. Alma Thomas was a founder vice president of Barnett- Aden Gallery in Washington. She helped so many young artists find their voice, be inspired, and tell a story to the world. “Overcoming the barriers being black, a woman, an artist, and growing old, she believed: ‘Creative art is for all time and is therefore independent of time. It is of all ages, of every land”.
The idea of the Chicano community muralism as a requirement for the “art of place” shows that the practice is specific to an area. Even though they are understood in the context of the history of a location, they rarely remain to be a still symbol of a certain moment or a place in the record of events from the past.
This particular mural served as a reminder of the past and marked the achievements of influential African American figures
When most people think about art, the first thing to come to mind would usually be paintings that are hung up in a museum. Unless you really understand the value of art you may not believe me when I say the value of art is essential to the well being of free individuals. This idea can be supported by Bell Hooks story named “ Art On My Mind”.
Imagine a mural, of ancient Cree markings, known as syllabics, etched on a wall in a public art gallery. You notice that for certain blocked inscriptions of the text, red and gray paint in the style of graffiti buffing has obscured them from view. That translated mural, presented by Open Space galleries, tells the story of the flood for the Cree Nation. Created in 2013 by a young indigenous artist named Jesse Campbell. As a student, you don 't have many opportunities to create a large-scale piece of art and have it displayed in a public place. But here in Victoria a program exists for indigenous youth artists where you can do just that.
“Any drawn line that speaks about identity, dignity, and unity is art,” (Chaz Bojorquey) is a statement that I agree with. Art is perceived differently from all people based on their culture, religion, personal taste, and many other factors. I believe that as long as what has been created is meaningful to either the creator or even to somebody that is viewing it, it should be considered art. Art in the public is a very controversial subject that brings up the important question of, “Should public art be considered as real art,” personally I think that it should be. I believe that the difference between art that is placed in a gallery and art that is visible by a community is the fact that what is acceptable in a gallery
"A picture can paint a thousand words." I found the one picture in my mind that does paint a thousand words and more. It was a couple of weeks ago when I saw this picture in the writing center; the writing center is part of State College. The beautiful colors caught my eye. I was so enchanted by the painting, I lost the group I was with. When I heard about the observation essay, where we have to write about a person or thing in the city that catches your eye. I knew right away that I wanted to write about the painting. I don’t know why, but I felt that the painting was describing the way I felt at that moment.