One of the artists I liked learning about was Ruby Chacon. She identifies as an Utah Native and a Chicana. She refers to this as "Utana.". She is a descendant of the Pueblo Indians.
As a first generation student, Chacon got her Bachelors of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, further settling her into her community. She has won several awards for her artistry.
Although she is known for being a muralist, Chacon also does prints and traditional paintings. All forms of her work have been exhibited in a rather global manner, reaching as far as Morocco and making its mark throughout the United States. She reclaimed traditional Utah art, which is typically comprised of landscapes featuring Utah's extensive biomes, by painting the residents. In paintings of people close to her, her admirers saw their own kin. Her paintings are meant to make a person feel connected to their family and Utah background.
One of the reasons I really enjoyed learning about her and her work is that she is able to synthesize community and a place through visual art. Immediately upon looking at her art, people from Utah know that she made art about them. She rekindles memories of one's neighbors and connects these feelings to the land.
I like that she makes public art because it takes away from the prestige of who can and who can't admire art. She welcomes everyone to enjoy her talent and feel connected to it. Her work uses soft, gentle colors, as seen in her temporary mural of her grandfather, titled Grandpa Cosme Chacon. The temporality of it is almost a reminder for us to be more in community with those we love, and appreciate them while we have them here. Although, as an outsider, I would never know of this man's connection to Utah, I can appreciate how kind he looks in this mural. It is that which ignites happiness,
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