An artist that I enjoyed learning about was Irene Perez presented by Hannah Cornejo. Irene Perez is a muralist from Oakland, California and she is a member of the group Las Mujeres Muralistas.
Las Mujeres Muralistas is a group of all female mural artists based in the area of San Francisco. The majority of their work is in the mission district in San Francisco and their most recognized project is Maestra Peace.This piece was started in 1993 and it is on the side of the San Francisco mission Women’s Building. This art piece features a lot of images of important Chicana women including Rigoberta Menchu who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. This piece features other influential women like Hana Ashrawi, Lolita Lebron, and Georgia O’Keefe. The mural also features spiritual figures: Guanyin the East Asian Goddess, Yemayah, and the Aztec moon goddess.
Another piece that caught my attention was 500 Years of Native Survival, and it was painted in 1972. This piece was described in the book Street Art San Francisco.
The next mural that was presented was Panamerica. This piece was painted in 1974 and was in collaboration with the other members of Las Mujeres Muralistas. This piece was commissioned by the mission model cities initiative. This mural features a lot of characteristics that made a lot of their work revolutionary. They focused a lot on celebratory images of women and it shows women engaging in everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of kids. The idea behind the mural is to celebrate Chicana women spiritually, physically, and emotionally. While Irene and the other members of Las Mujeres Muralistas were working on this mural they experienced harassment and it shows how dedicated they were because they were able to finish the mural despite what they had to go through.
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