Extra Credit: Art of the State symposium

Through the Art of the State symposium, I was able to learn about the background and influence of artists Victor Payan, Pocha Peña, and Amalia Mesa Bains. I learned more about the practice of arts activism and how important it is to engage in intergenerational conversations in order to promote more productive approaches. The artists were able to talk about how their personal upbringings have influenced their art-making processes, and how they have been able to utilize multimedia approaches to showcase their expertise in more than one field. 

Victor Payan and Pochas Peña are able to initiate difficult conversations through humor. Victor is a cultural writer, performer, film-maker, and transmedia artist. As a San Diego native, he described it as a hotspot during the ’80s and late ’90s as a place to inform the global dialogue of what Chicano culture is and could be. Through his work, he is able to examine history and the future at the same time, looking at the present to determine what representation is currently missing. Pochas described her upbringing as having a very interesting relationship with the land. She had grown up in Orange County but spent her summers at her grandparents’ ranch in the Andes. She was able to see the extreme contrast between the two locations, which showed her that systems do in fact matter when retaining cultural histories. Pochas also provided great insights into art activism, mentioning that artivism requires intergenerational wisdom in order to maintain strong ties with the community. In order to have intergenerational conversations, Pochas pushes for authentic conversations without bludgeoning the other person with words. She also mentions that we need to unlearn seeing others as the enemy in order to engage in productive dialogue. 

Amalia Mesa-Bains describes her early work as reflecting family narratives, belonging, and typography. She constantly aims for cultural exploration, cultural reclamation, and community engagement through her art. She also engages in cultural transformation by taking material and transforming it so that it is more relevant across different spaces. Amalia was able to talk about her collaboration and the work of other Chicana artists including Ester Hernandez, Judy Baca, Consuelo Underwood, and Patsi Valdez. A specific artwork of Amalia’s is her Borders piece, where she examines the border as a place of negotiation, violence, and reconciliation. This piece has been shown around the world in Mexico, Turkey, England, and the United States from 1990 to 2017. Amalia mentions how the issue of immigration is a consistent and ongoing challenge to social justice. In terms of the path ahead, she describes how the past couple of years have had a tremendous effect due to the ongoing struggles of the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration, and environmental rights. Amalia emphasizes how we must continue to face these issues and push for change.