Final Post: Reflection

As a senior graduating in about a week (woah), I had never taken a Chicana studies class until this quarter.  As a World Arts and Cultures major, I thought that was pretty ridiculous so I was excited to see that this class was being offered.  Within the first few weeks of the class I realized how little Chicana studies had been incorporated into my education.  There were some specific artists we learned about in this class who allowed me to especially connect with the material, because their work allowed me to draw connections between their artistic methodology and concepts I had previously learned about in my WAC classes.

One of these artists was Celia Alvarez Muñoz.  Her work stood out to me because it incorporated the theme of the communicative disconnect that occurs between cultures.  I enjoyed how personal her work felt as I learned about her experience in American schooling as a Spanish speaking child growing up in a Mexican American family.  I felt that her work provided an insight about the confusion that lies within language and communication, that I wish more people in the United States took the time to understand.

I also really enjoyed getting the opportunity to research Delilah Montoya's work for my presentation.  In my department we are encouraged to to engage in an interdisciplinary arts education, so I was excited to see the variety of mediums she used in her work.  She is such a creative artist when it comes to her choices of representation in her work.  The way she represents stories, characters, and real life people, shows her perspective as a Chicana artist who uses her work to question the way these things are traditionally represented in American, and Mexican-American culture.

Overall, I feel very lucky to have learned about these artists and I have gained new insight on Chicana art and artists.  I look forward to seeing more Chicana work outside of class!