Sabanero, Angela (Wk 10) Presentations

 Again, this week there were a lot of great artists presented to the class. This wide selection made it difficult to choose which artist and its presenter to choose but I decided on Pola Lopez, presented by Cassandra Sanchez. There were several interesting facts about Pola Lopez which Cassandra highlighted that especially struck my attention. The first interesting fact about Pola Lopez was the fact that she taught herself art. This was interesting to me because her art is so nicely done that I never would've guessed she was self-taught. It also brings me hope because it shows that if you're truly passionate about something, you have the ability to persevere until you become exceptional even if it's without formal training. Something that also really stood out to me about Pola Lopez was the fact that she helped the Brown Berets with a mural. Not only is she an artist but also an activist. Finally, although it was for the wrong school, I thought it was an accomplishment to have her art up at the University of Southern California Latinx heritage banners. I saw this as a great accomplishment because although I may not be a number one fan of that university for obvious reasons, I am not oblivious to the fact that it is a prestigious university and having your art hung there definitely speaks to her talent as an artist. One particular artwork which I especially enjoyed was her "Who Wins This Game?" piece. This piece has several similar but different identifying terms such as "Mexican American, Chicano, Spanish American, Latino, Mestizo, Hispano, Minority Other, and Hispanic" on it. I really liked the fact that this poster aims to show that there are so many different ways one can identify themselves with. We should not feel as though others can label us because we get to choose what terms we have stronger identifications with. Also, it is relatable in the way that it shows that sometimes having all these terms to choose from might make it difficult to know which is the "correct" or "right" term. This may sometimes feel overwhelming but at the end of the day we get to decide.