Presentation 2: Stephanie Mercado

Stephanie Mercado is a new and upcoming Chicana artist who is a Los Angeles native and grew up in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Stephanie Mercado grew to love art with the support and encouragement of her grandparents and mother, who always told her to draw and create whatever her mind imagined. She later attended the California State University of Long Beach, where she graduated from in 2007 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing. Mercado grew her interest in art making and opened her own private art studio, which is located in Highland park in the Northeastern side of Los Angeles. Her art studio is called Mano Negra Press. My classmate introduced us to three of Mercado’s paintings, which in my opinion are beautifully done and capture the image of what Chicanx art is. One of the images that really caught my eye was the one titled Live Through This, which my classmate stated that it is made out of oil on wood. This image took a total of eight years to complete and the time and effort it took really shows. This image was influenced by the 2007 market crash, when Mercado’s family lost their home, which caused her to view the term “the American Dream” differently. The image depicts a great sense of the Hispanic culture that is all over Los Angeles. In the image we see the Mexico and United States border, 6^th street bridge, and the Dodger stadium, all of which are small landmarks that represent the Hispanic community. My classmate also shared with us the story of how the Dodger stadium was placed on what used to be the community of Chavez Ravine, which was home to many Chicanx families and who were forced to move just for the building of the Dodger stadium.