Questions for Professor Gaspar de Alba

Question 1: Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: 

Professor Gaspar de Alba states that Chicana artists were not well represented in the art history world and that CARA (according to some reviewers) gave Chicana artists the attention that they deserved. However, the article also states that Chicano artists represented the majority of the CARA exhibit. What was CARA’s purpose? Was CARA meant for Chicana art awareness or was it to simply declare that Chicana artists were not as well represented in the exhibit? Also, what is CARA an acronym for?

My main interest for this question is an answer to why the CARA exhibit did not have more female representatives for such a powerful art exhibit. I am also interested in the acronyms for CARA, which I don’t think was in the readings. 

Question 2: There’s no Place Like Aztlan: Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art:

Aztlan is a myth it is a utopia Kansas is in fact a reality. Dorothy yearned to return home (Kansas) the only home she knew. How can Aztlan, as a myth, become so deeply imbedded onto Chicana/o life if it never existed to begin with while Dorothy’s Kansas did exist? Also, is there a name for the equation/idea of signifiers?  

I really enjoyed reading this essay. This is a culture, nation, and people that I was unable to be associated with since arriving in the U.S. It was interesting to learn more things about my culture, nation, people.I wanted to know how a nonexistent land was able to penetrate into Chicana/o life when we know that Kansas was indeed tangible and able to be seen, smelt, felt and experienced.