Argueza, Leigh Anne (Wk. 8-Artist Presentation)

    The first presenters for our last session were excellent. I had a nice time learning about my fellow classmate’s artists from their perspective, but I was most immediately impressed by Armando Perez’s presentation on Los Angeles native public artist Brenda Barrios. I resonated mainly with her use of vivid palette choices that were tied with her Mexican heritage that she recollected from childhood memories. I think that her mission, or rather activism, to create awareness about her culture’s lives are intricately woven in each of her pieces. They have made a powerful impact on these issues and highlighted the readily prevalent injustices that need to be addressed and remedied within not only the Chicanx communities, but global ones. The image that resonated deepest with me was of her piece captioned “Essential workers pay them hazard pay” which had farm workers littered across a field with fires behind them in the background.

    It reminded me of last year’s fires in and around Monterey County, which is a short drive away from Salinas farms that were essentially still in production while the fires were still active. I remember my older sister, who at the time was reporting on them, would come home exhausted from being out in the active burn areas. Each time she had to be out in the field, I worried for her safety, the damage to her health, and the instances where her life would be at risk because she was reporting so close to these areas. I also thought about how inhumane it was for these farms that were expected to yield the same number of products within these conditions without any regard for their own safety. Every Sunday when we would brave the local farmer’s markets in town during last year’s fire season, I would hear the apologies that were being doled out for the quality of the vegetables from the vendors. It just reminded me to be humbler, recognize the privileges I held, and also to keep supporting these vendors without large expectations because over the years they became more than friendly encounters—they were always essential people to the fabric of our town.