Nolazco, Nallely - Week 10 Course Evaluation/Reflection

 At the start of the course, I expected this class to tell us about historical moments in the Chicano movement. While we did discuss some of the movements, what was amazing about this course was how we discussed Chicana artists in the movement. While male artists, did discuss topics such as the work ethics and policing of the Chicano community. In artwork, the Chicana was depicted as the loyal woman to the family and cause or she was the "bad whore" but what's amazing about Chicana artists is that instead of using the trope, they instead presented average Chicana woman in everyday life. Artists like Yolanda M. Lopez are perfect examples of this as she used herself in works like her self portrait of her as Guadalupe. By doing that, she rebelled against the ideas of what the ideal Chicana can be and instead showed how the average Chicana had mobility and not necessarily be tied down to the Mexican traditions as well as how the Chicana had the ability to organize herself when it came to things she believed in. Another thing that makes Chicana art great is also it's ability to cover other aspects of the Chicano struggle such as the inequalities Chicano's in the lgbt community have to face.

In regards to the Chicana Activist project, i'd say it was enjoyable. Seeing all these artists made me realize that you don't necessarily have to paint on a canvas or sculpt to be considered an artist. Seeing the presentations so far as well as reading articles for this class, showed me a different variety of art mediums used when it comes to making art. Another thing I also learned was the importance of how the artworks can be presented be it through an exhibition of posting it online for a virtual experience. For my activist project, I did it on Sofia Alexander and it was simply because I  saw she worked on anime and I also love anime. Researching her an looking at articles featuring her was fun because she was very down to earth about her anime project. The fact that she even got an anime produced with Mesoamerican history and culture is impressive considering the well established anime market. Also reading about her experiences outside of anime such as story board work and imagineering was interesting because I don't think i've ever heard of any Chicanos working in the animation industry because working in animation in general, it doesn't get a lot of recognition. What I loved the most learning about her was how she developed Onyx Equinox starting from a small comic strip and the research and inspiration she got from things she loves such as books and video games. To me it felt inspirational because it made me realize, that the animation industry is willing to show things outside anime tradition.