Spencer, Tadeo (Week 10)

 For my final blog post, I would like to reflect upon the work of Yolanda M. López once again.

My father attended UCLA during the ‘90s, a time when López’s piece, “Who’s the Illegal Alien, Pilgrim?” was widely circulated. As such, I knew about the piece long before I took this class (I loved it so much that it became a running joke of ours). However, I never knew anything about its creator, nor the context in which it was created, and neither did my father. Although this piece took on a life of its own, we can never separate a work of art from the artist who created it. It is our duty to elevate not only the works of Chicana artists but also the artists themselves. For that reason, I am thankful to have taken this class. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Yolanda M. López by Karen Mary Davalos because it presented all of her major works while providing significant background information on each of them. Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe is now one of my favorite works of art because of the sheer joy and strength that it conveys. It is impossible to look upon this painting and not feel empowered. With it, López reminds us that ordinary people, especially ordinary women, possess their own divine power like the Virgin.

This, too, reflects my feelings as I look back on this course. We may be undergraduates simply trying to get through school, but we can also make a difference through our schoolwork. The activist project we completed for Wikipedia exemplifies this. It is our duty to lift each other up, even if it is just one person, because that single person can empower many more. It was an honor to write about Johanna Toruño and to learn about all the amazing artists that others researched. Let’s hope all our articles are eventually published!