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“The Mexican-American
Experience”
Cross-Cultural Course Offerings at San Antonio College
A few years ago, a small faculty committee appointed by
the
then dean of Arts and Sciences, began working to develop a list of
courses
to help San Antonio College meet its mission to "promote cross-cultural
understanding and appreciation through instructional and social
activities that contribute to cultural awareness and
interaction." Several SAC departments offered designated
courses or course sections infused with Mexican-American topics.
The intent was to encourage inclusion and to enrich specific courses
with the Mexican-American experience. Interested students
began registering for these courses in the Spring 2004 semester.
Begining Fall 2006, students may earn a certificate upon completion of 12 credit hours of Mexican-American Experience courses. For more information on the certification program, contact the Department of Sociology at (210) 785-6073. Due to the inclusion of Mexican-American topics in the Sayre World of Art textbook used for Art Appreciation, all of the art appreciation sections were so designated. Although VATC art appreciation classes will meet the college’s goal simply by including what is already present in the text book, following and attached is information that Art Appreciation instructors may find useful in providing additional background material, images, and websites. The following items are attached to the handout provided to new adjuncts teaching Art Appreciation, and instructions are included in the faculty "break-out" sessions at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters: 1. Chicano Art Networks, The Handbook of Texas Online. 2. Mexican-American Folk Arts and Crafts, The Handbook of Texas Online. 3. “Chicano Art in the Face of the Mainstream,” by Salvador Guerena, a 1999 review of Chicano Art Inside/Outside the Master’s House: Cultural Politics and the CARA Exhibition, by Alicia Gaspar de Alba. 4. Copies of Chapter 3, “Resistance and Identity: Street Murals of Occupied Aztlan”; Chapter 26, “How Latin American Artists in the U.S. View Art, Politics, and Ethnicity in a Supposedly Multicultural World”; and Chapter 30, “Homogenizing Hispanic Art,” in Shifra Goldman, Dimensions of the Americas: Art and Social Change in Latin America and the United States, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 1994. COORDINATING TEXTBOOK
INFORMATION
1. Sayre text, Chapter 9, “The Principles of Design.” On pages 180-181 Judith Baca’s drawings for the University of Southern California in L.A.’s Student Center, entitled “La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra” (1996) are the focus of discussion and are compared to the “America Tropical” mural by David Alfaro Siquerios, the destruction of which is also discussed, along with the work of Guillermo Gomez Pena. 2. Sayre text, Chapter 12, “Painting.” On page 250, Diego Rivera’s Sugar Cane and his use of fresco are discussed; on page 264 Siqueiros is mentioned in reference to synthetic media along with a detail of his work Cuatemoc Against the Myth. Page 265 includes with a discussion of Judith Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles. 3. Sayre text, Chapter 14, “Sculpture.” Contemporary sculptor from New Mexico, Patrocinio Barela, is discussed along with Santos figures and Southwest Hispanic culture on page 305. 4. Sayre text, Chapter 15, “Other Three-Dimensional Art.” Page 337 discusses the pottery of Maria Montoya Martinez. On pages 342-343, under "Work in Progress," is a comparison of Peter Voulkos’ contemporary ceramics with pottery from Mexican Aztec and Mayan cultures. 5. Sayre text, Chapter 16, “Architecture.” Examination of Mesa Verde and the concept of the Kiva, discussion of the ancestors of the native peoples of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Anasazi are included in pages 364-365. 6. Sayre text, Chapter 20, “The Renaissance through Baroque.” Section is included in this chapter on ‘pre-Columbian art in Mexico, from 4000 bce to 1519’ in pages 472-474. 7. Sayre text, Chapter 22, includes image by Frida Kahlo and discussion of feminist issues. See page 523. ARTISTS LISTED IN
PORTFOLIO
A search in Portfolio (the image storage and retrieval system used in the SAC Visual Arts department) under “Find” in the All Catalog, selecting “keyword” and “contains” with the words “Hispanic,” “Chicano/a,” and “Mexican-American” turned up the following artists in our catalogs: Judith Baca, Luis Jimenez, Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Coco Fusco, Cesar Martinez, Jesus Bautistia Moroles, Lydia G. Martinez, Salomon Huerta, Mel Casas, and Jesse Amado. These same artists – and many more (215) – show up under the keyword “Mexican,” which includes the ‘great ones,’ such as 20th century artists Diego Rivera, Kahlo, Orozco, Siqueiros and earlier artists from Mexico. More artists may be added to the Portfolio storage system. BOOKS
One of the most important books on the topic of understanding contemporary art of the Spanish Americas is Shifra Goldman’s Dimensions of the Americas: Art and Social Change in Latin America and the United States, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 1994. Goldman’s book mentions San Antonians Mel Casas, Carolina Flores, Cesar Martinez, Rolando Briseno, Jacinto Quirarte, and Emma Tenayuca. Writes Goldman, “Thus it can be said that better coverage exists about Latin American and Latino-descent artists living in the U.S. in prestigious journals of Europe and Latin America, or alternative magazines in this country, than can be found in the most widely circulated art publications in the United States. The net result of such exclusionary policies is a distorted view of the whole of modern art, generally, and the scope of art from the Americas in particular.” (p. 196) This book is available in the SAC Library. Also available at the SAC Library: Draher, Patricia, ed. The Chicano Codices: Encountering Art of the Americas. (San Francisco: Mexican Museum). 1992. Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. Chicano Art Inside/outside the Master's House: Cultural Politics and the CARA Exhibition. (Austin: University of Texas Press) 1998. Griswold del Castillo, Richard, Teresa McKenna and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, eds. Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985. (Los Angeles: Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles). 1991. Keller, Gary D. et al. Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education . (Tempe, Ariz.: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue) 2002. Quirarte, Jacinto. Mexican American Artists. (Austin: University of Texas Press). 1973. INTERNET SITES
“Chicano Art: A Resource Guide,” California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives, University of Californic, Santa Barbara. http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/chicanoArt.html Also view connected pages “Proyecto Caridad Chicano Visual Arts Kit: A Guide,” at http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/visual_arts_kit.html and the Chicano Art Digital Image Collection at http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/digitalArchives.html “Chicano,” Chicano-Art-Life. http://www.chicano-art-life.com/index.html 2001. This is the website of the Chicano art exhibit, based on the collection of Cheech Marin, that traveled to the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2001. Most images from the exhibit are included and may be enlarged. A teacher’s guide in pdf format may be accessed from the site. Rivera, George. “Chicano Art in Colorado: An Overview,” Latina/o Art Community. University of Colorado at Boulder. http://latinoartcommunity.org/community/Vistas/Rivera-ChicArtInCO.html Site offers a good national/regional overview plus a bibliography. “Mexican and Chicano Art History on the Internet,” from Neally Library, Santa Ana College, California. Updated 5/27/03. http://www.sac.edu/students/library/nealley/websites/jg_art104.htm “Mexican American Artists,” University of Southern California Ethic Studies Archives. http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/ethnicstudies/mexi_amer_art.html Excellent resource with links leading to exhibits, journals, books, dissertations, cd-roms. “The Unbroken Chain,” The Traditional Arts of Tucson’s Mexican American Community. University of Arizona Museum of Art. http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/cadena/ June 27, 2001. “del Corazon,” National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian collection of art by Latino artists. Interactive site. http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/webzine/index.html Latino Virtual Gallery, Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. http://latino.si.edu/latinsitio/Netscapeindex.htm |
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For
additional information, contact Marleen Hoover at mhoover@alamo.edu
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