Extra Credit_ Carlos Borayo

This past weekend I went to volunteer at self help graphics Boyle Heights for the art exhibit right after class that was going to happen on. I had so much fun because that was my first time ever volunteering for an art exhibit. Overall what we did, in my opinion, was simple we just painted walls but the art that was going to be shown was actually going to be placed on the walls we painted so it's pretty cool in my opinion I get to say that I helped even though I did not art at all. I guess I just enjoyed doing something that I have never done before and I made someone's life a little easier by helping out. Also, I got to see the art before it was put up for the public to see it was truly beautiful and the art because it was about women it reminded me of my twin sister and mother because they are strong and influential people in my life. I actually want to do more volunteer work for this place again because I had a great time and I get to help people who are similar to me and who care about similar things.

I'm very grateful to have been given this opportunity to visit this place and to meet the people their so in the future I will definitely try to volunteer and who knows maybe I will see some of my art one day or even a close friend of mines, all I can say is I'm excited to find out.

Week 10 REFLECTION

This class is definitely something different I had a lot of fun throughout the quarter. I remember when my advisor signed me up for a four-hour class on a Friday I was pissed because I wanted to sleep in and not have to get up early. Well after the first class I thought this class is going to be cool. I said that because of two reasons. One was us having to write all those artists on the board and I got to write the name of any artist and I choose a graffiti artist so I thought that was cool because I am taking a class talking about a graffiti writer. Then the second reason that made me like the class was the fact that we had to write women artist name on the board and we had to write the artist name I was so shocked because I wrote a mans name and I was shocked when I realize I don't really know any female artist name. After that, I knew that I was going to learn a lot about women artists especially Chicana artists.

Overall my class experience was fun because I got to learn about many great Chicana/X and LatinX artists who all had amazing work. Also, even though I lost my drawing book in week five half the time we were allowed to draw in class and I enjoyed that. I also, go to volunteer at an art exhibit that I believe was meant to inspire women artists from the Boyle Heights area.

Week 9

The artist that stood out the most to me from this week's presentation is Judy Baca. I have learned about her in previous classes and her art is truly wonderful. This piece, in particular, is actually one of the longest murals in the world. It is titled the Great Wall of Los Angeles which is located in the San Fernando Valley. Judy along with other artists painted this mural and fun fact it actually is part of the Los Angeles River. This mural is of great importance to me because it has a lot of history painted on this both about the world and the city of Los Angeles. Another art piece that I love about Judy is the photo of her smoking a cigarette she looks truly iconic and I know many people have added their own touch to it in the last recent years. Judy looks like a badass as you can see on the bottom of the page some artist took her original photo and edited it and it looks amazing I can't get over how it looks she looks like a badass Chicana I want to get this picture and hang it up in my room or home one day. hopefully, I can meet her one day because she is a living Chicana legend and she inspires many people like myself to draw art that is similar to hers. Also, in this mural, she has a Native American sitting in a campfire with white men I think that part of the mural is cool because it looks like they are eating together. 

Week 8

The artist that stood out for me from this week was the artist that Jair san Vicente choose. The artist he chose is named Melisa Depaz. This artist is a Compton artist. This piece I have below is amazing because she painted her entire neighborhood and that to me is everything because no matter where I end up in life I will always remember where I came from. In her artwork, she includes this man on a horse which in the city of Compton these riders are known as the Compton Cowboys and they are well known all over the city. Also, she includes a famous food place which is Dales Donuts that reminds me of the local donut shop back home and again I'm all for people that show love to their community. She does a great job in showing the viewer what everyday life in Compton could be like from the food, coffee shops, the men on horses, buildings and even the helicopter or better known as the "Ghetto Bird". I hope to continue learning about this artist and her artwork because she is very talented and her art is dope!

Week 7 Star Montana

The artist I choose is named Star Montana, she is from Boyle Heights, which serves as a backdrop to most of her work. Her artwork is mainly about the social class and environment that she sees in her neighboorhood, her personal life, and her family. She actually has had some of her work at the UCLA Chicano studies research library, called Three dots and Teardrops.  She has received many awards for her projects and she describes herself as a one-time punk rocker who now tells the stories of her life and community. I'm looking forward to learning more about her and her projects or artwork or photography she is truly inspirational and amazing.

week 6

For my stencil, I have chosen to create a stencil similar to this one. Music helps me with everything and I can't go a day without listening to it.  From studying to dancing its truly helps me especially when I am having a stressful day and I want to relax and get away, so what I do is play music and just vibe out. There is no better stencil that I can have on my cover because music is so amazing and different and I feel like that is a perfect thing to represent the drawings we do in class. Although I am not sure what color to color my stencil I want to have them all over my cover so ill probably cut the stencil into a small shape so I can have them all over my cover. 

week 5 ofelia esparza

For week five we had the honor to meet Ofelia Esparza who is actually one of our fellow peers' relatives. Ofelia is a Chicana artist born in East Los Angeles. She is a true inspiration because she is eighty-eight years old and she is still creating projects, creating art, activism, and inspiring people such as myself.  Ofelia still lives in the same neighborhood where she grew up in that is incredible, again she is a true phenomenon. Ofelia Esparza is best known for her Alters, which are artworks that honor and represent the past ancestors.

Esparzas past is very unique. Her altars represent that past. For example, she recently did a huge altar in the city of Los Angeles. In the altar, she not only represents herself and her family but the entire city of Los Angeles it is truly something amazing. Esparza has been involved in many unique projects throughout her years. However, in recent years she has been involved with the movie Coco, which is a Disney movie about dia de Los Muertos. She was a cultural consultant for the movie and some of her advice was shown in the movie such as the orange flowery bridge. Her family also works on projects with her, she is very lucky because she gets to continue her family tradition which is being passed down to her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. A great example is the altars her daughters and sons have helped built them in the past a true family tradition that she has thought to many people.

Week 4 Rasquachismo y Domesticana

After reading this week's assigned readings, I have come to better understand the terms Rasquachismo and Domestica. First, I will start with Rasquachismo. Rasquachismo is a very unique and at least for me a confusing one; for example, it is described in the reading as this attitude for the Chicana/o and Mexican American people. At first, it was seen as a negative thing that poor working-class Chicanos and Mexicans would be associated with. However, as many things that minority activist due it was eventually embraced during the Chicanx movement. Rasquachismo would be used during the civil rights movement in the 1960s as a term that was seen rejecting whiteness or any sense of I would say the dominant white culture. Thus, Rasquachismo becomes something of pride and its shown in the readings in many ways. One major way of art. Many of the murals were of the hard-working Chicana/o people. Working-class people were being painted on murals all over barrios of Los Angeles and of course, white people were mad but the Chicana/o community was embracing their magnificent culture.

Domesticana, however, is similar to Rasquachismo but is a female version. Like many things Rasquachismo was male-dominated and honestly, it did not represent women the same so it was only right that they embraced Domesticana. This also represented a domestic sense of pride. The home, the community, the working people, the churches, and the Barrios. Through Domesticana many women were able to embrace their sense of women hood and embrace their Chicana activism.

Yreina Cervántez

Carlos Borrayo Week 2 CARA

My artist name is Paloma Sanchez, she is a legendary Chicana artist.


This week was very interesting and it was very exciting to meet one of the founders of the Chicana/o studies department. Professor Alicia Garcia de Alba talks about the Chicano Art Resistance and Affirmations, or better know as the CARA exhibit. This exhibition was and is still something that represented what many young Chicanos were going through and overall the struggle of the Chicano movement because it was one of the first exhibits of its kind to be shown all over the country and it was a success. However, all though it had all that exposure it was missing a very important thing. women.
Female artist was no represented fairly on the CARA exhibition. This comes to no surprise to me because in the first week of school we were told to name Chicana and Chicano artists and I could not think of any female artist. Most of the art was of men and when there were women involved they were not represented as equal. For example, the females that were on some of the exhibits were in fact painted as if they were less than the men. It almost seemed as men the men were the important ones who were going to solve all the problems. Due to the fact that many women were not painted as the heroes like the men were portrayed. The women were seen as the typical holy Virgen who is there to serve christ but in this case the men who were the men involved in the Chicana/o movement.

For this assignment, I choose to write about the three paintings of the women that are titled, one; A portrait of the artist as the Virgen of Guadalupe, the second is titled Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the third and final one is titled Guadalupe: Victoria F. Franco. These paintings were made in 1978. Yolanda Lopez’s artwork of these three Virgens was something completely different than what most artists were creating at that time. Lopez created something truly empowering that represented the brown indigenous women and the hard-working women. Lopes is also credited with being one of the original and most well known Chicana artist her work truly represents a modern-day Virgen de Guadalupe. 

However, I choose to mainly focus on the young Virgen. I like this one the most because I have never seen a portrait of the Virgen mary like this. Lopez drew young women that I know many young women can look up to because she is very empowering. For example, she has a snake in one of her hands, I know I'm scared of snakes and so are others but not this young Virgen De Guadalupe she is fearless and strong. Also, she is standing on the angel that is traditionally holding her up but she is strong standing on top of the angela and that to me represents that women can do anything and I honestly think Lopez is a genius. One last thing she is holding the cape-like blanket and I know Lopez explains everything she painted on this portrait to me that represents that she is able to lead and carry people on her back, a true hero.

Hello, everyone, my name is Carlos Borrayo I am a third-year transfer. I was born in Compostela Nayarit, Mexico, but I was raised in Santa Barbara California. I’m from a beach city so I love the ocean. In my free time I like to hang out with friends and family, binge watch shows, being outdoors and exercising. I’m a Laker and Eagles fan and of course, I’m a fan of Mexicos National soccer team. I come from a family of six of which I am the only male. I am a Chicana/o/x and Sociology major. I plan to one day go to graduate school and either earn my Masters's degree in Social work, Education, or Counseling. I want to do research one day, however, I do not know what I want to do research on. I plan on going to USC after my undergrad because I know they have a lot of money and I know they are willing to give some of that money to their graduate students. 

I am looking forward to this class a lot because as a kid I was into graffiti and murals especially Chicano murals or murals that would represent a community or neighborhood. I know that we’re going to learn a lot from Chicana/o/x artist, and I’m looking forward to that because I don’t know many of them, especially women artist. I want to take advantage of this class and learn as much as I can, I’m looking forward to the next ten weeks.