Final Blog Post

I had previously heard good things about this class so I decided to give it a shot, even though I am not a big fan of art. The best part of the course was my realization that I like to draw. Before, I used to hate drawing, mostly because I have never been good at it except for drawing faces. But after all the sign language hand exercises, I felt I improved over time. So I learned that I like to draw. I found it therapeutic to draw whenever I was stressing out about school or money. I would just think, "maybe I should just start drawing my mango or my hands so that I can feel better" and I did end up feeling better. Most importantly, I learned about Xicana art. This was very rewarding to me. We grow up with a very Eurocentric view on art and this is "required" for graduating high school and whatnot. The rest of the art classes such as Latin American art history, Japanese art history etc, get relegated to "electives",so students don't have to take them in order to graduate. Being in a class where the topic was strictly Xicana artists was very nurturing as a Xicana feminist. I got to see the world of these artists through their lens. They used art as a mode to deconstruct linear forms of teaching and expose the counter-hegemonic narratives that were excluded from US history. I always looked forward to seeing artist presentations and learn about the experiences that influenced their art. It was overall a very enriching class with talented people.