Madrigal, Stephanie (Extra Credit: The Cheech @ RAM Exhibition)

 This extra credit assignment gave me the opportunity to learn about artist Sonya Fe and even hear from Sonya Fe herself with the Son Cuatro: In Conversation podcast. One of Sonya Fe's most notable work is La llorona which were 6 panels where she told the whole story of how La llorona came to be. She has been complimented on her ability to vividly tell a story visually and the viewer is not simply expected to know who la llorona is and why she killed her children. Sonya Fe talked about how she has been told before to not let her work be political, the issue is that her work includes standing up for her community such as when she made a black and white mural to protest against putting the children at the border in cages. Fe refuses to let herself be silenced so in an effort to make it seem like the mural was not a political piece she called it chickens and children do not belong in cages. Fe does not shy away from making statements through her work about present day issues at the border.  Fe makes a powerful statement when addressing why it is Chicana artist who make art to standup for the community. She says, "Women give life, all children are their children", this too is the reason why she has made numerous projects to shed light on the children being put into cages, and brought on over by coyotes and then separated from their families where they are put into detention centers with horrible living conditions. She has been told before that her d drawings and paintings look like they were done by different people, but Fe believes that of course her work will look distinct because different materials are meant to give a different effect. Fe prioritizes the public having access to her art over being interested with solely making profits. I think it is also important to note how Fe does not speak Spanish but is learning, I think this can be used against her by the public because there are some individuals who think that if a person does not speak Spanish then they are not a true Chicana/o. Despite the fact that some feel she is not a true chicana, she still advocates for the children at the border more than other artist who are considered "real" chicanos just because they speak Spanish.