Ojeda, Alejandro (Week 9)

For our second week of presentations, the overview given to us by Helena Alcala proved to be very interesting to me. Helena presented on Carmen Linares-Kalo, an artist who has done such monumental work in the Chicanx community. I greatly appreciated the fact that Helena took the time to do research on Linares-Kalo and put together a draft of the artist’s life and work. Although this was just a small glimpse into the life of the artist, I believe it was empowering to hear about the work that’s being done by her and many others in the community.

One of the main reasons why Linares-Kalo’s work stood out to me was because of the locations in which she chose to create some of her art. The images that Helena showed us in class featured murals done on freeway pillars, the large, stone bases of freeways you can see almost anywhere you go. Not only are the pieces magnificent in their beauty and attention to detail, but I believe this art, and the particular settings in which it is located, speaks even greater volumes. The fact that this art is set on freeway bases almost seems as if the art itself is holding up the freeway, which speaks a lot on the contributions that Chicanx have made, and continue to make, to our society that have fostered growth and success. In this case, these pieces of art now embody many of the statements and questions that are reminiscent of the Chicano movement of the late-20th century. Nonetheless, uer work, and the means by which it is all completed, was wonderful to witness in class.

Every presentation has been great, especially since we have all been shedding light on such important work that usually goes unnoticed. I hope that I get to hear from more of my peers about even more women creating art in Chicanx and Latinx spaces.