Reflection Post

I have had the amazing opportunity to take two courses with Professor Lopez and am very appreciative of the experience because not only do we learn about critical and relevant artivists who have had and continue to have a major impact on the cultura and comunidad, but we are also given the opportunity to practice our own art and engage in creative mediums that help us better understand our roles within this praxis. I would like to thank you Professor Lopez for giving us the space to learn, analyze, and practice an important part of our communities and educational trajectories that are not always valued in traditional academic settings. The arts are always marginalized from k-12 education, and even more so in higher education. When taking this class, I thought I was only going to be learning about Chicana/Latina artists that I already knew. But, I found that I have a lot to learn about the muxeres who engage in art today in various ways that are not always highlighted in our communities. I especially liked this course because it aligned with my research interests. As I was reading for this class, I found a lot that I could use within my own research process that I may not have found otherwise. One thing I hope is that everyone in the class continues to find their own personal and spiritual journey with the arts and that although they may not feel like artists, that they continue to find freedom and liberation in the act of expressing themselves in whatever form they choose.