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CARA CHICANO ART: 
RESISTANCE AND AFFIRMATION

The Chicano movement was not an isolated phenomenon. It was part of the social and political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s...

The forces of the Chicano Art Movement
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The invitation to the first Chicano art show which appeared in the Chicano Times, San Antonio, on Friday, June 19, 1970. 

Photograph by George Velasquez
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Jose Angel Gutierrez during a student gathering in 1975.

The exhibition Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation focuses on the sources of Chicano art, its form and meaning as well as its relation to other cultural and artistic manifestations of the past and present. Its primary emphasis, however, is on the relationship of Chicano art to the Chicano movement and Chicano culture. The first served as a catalyst for the artists, and the second as a source for much of the imagery of Chicano art.

The exhibition is arranged into ten basic themes. They are: 1) La Causa (The Chicano Movement); 2) Cultural Icons; 3) Civil Liberties; 4) Urban Images; 5) Murals; 6) Artists' Groups; 7) Regional Expressions; 8) Reclaiming the Past; 9) Feminist Visions; 10) Redefining American Art.

The Chicano Movement

The Chicano movement can best be understood by studying the various manifestations or plans written in the early stages of the movement to attain equal rights with other Americans along economic, political and educational lines.

The most important of the early manifestations, is the Delano Plan because it marks the beginning of a new consciousness among Chicanos that, given a clear sense of purpose and unity, the could change the conditions under which they had lived for generations. The plan was issued as a proclamation by the National Farm Workers Association, now called the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), led by the late Cesar Chavez, when the grape strike was called on September 16, 1965 in Delano, California. Chavez, however, brought national attention to the strike as a broad based movement in which he also called for social justice and human dignity.

The political side of the Chicano movement was signaled by El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan (The Spiritual Plan of Aztlan), produced by the first annual Youth Liberation Conference held in Denver, Colorado in March 1969, and announced by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzalez. The plan called for Chicanos to work together and organize a new political party based on Chicano nationalism. Such a party - La Raza Unida Party (the United People) - was formed by Jose Angel Gutierrez and three hundred Chicanos who met in Crystal City, Texas in early 1970.

The educational side of the Chicano movement was covered by El Plan de Santa Barbara: A Chicano Plan for Higher Education. It called for contributions by institutions of higher learning to the liberation of the Chicano community by creating knowledge applicable to the Chicano movement.
         
Manifestoes written by Chicano artists under the auspices of artists' groups in various parts of the Southwest, Northwest and Great Lakes regions are comparable to those that dealt with the economic, political, and educational issues of the Chicano movement. One of the Chicano artists' group manifestoes, titled "Brown Paper" was written by Mel Casas for the San Antonio-based group known as Con Safo (C/S). According to Casas, Con Safo means "to be free from danger." It is also an expression of Pachuco (Zoot-Suiter) origin meaning "the same to you" or "hands off."
     
The Chicano movement encompassed, therefore, the many activities in the fields (the grape and lettuce strikes) and urban areas (the student demonstrations, and others like the Poor People's Campaign March in Washington, D.C., the Chicano Moratorium in Los Angeles; and the emergence of a Chicano expression in the visual and performing arts). Its aims were to attain economic and political rights, as well as to strengthen Chicano heritage in schools, colleges, and universities.

Finally, the Chicano movement was not a isolated phenomenon. It was part of the social and political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s that was characterized by the civil rights movement, the women's movement for equal rights, and the opposition to the Vietnam War. All in all, the conditions in the country were conducive to the development of this historic movement.
  
Artists' Groups 
  
The names of the artists' groups reflect the aims of the Chicano movement in relation to the artists' sense of place and identity, their artistic and political views, their location, and their sense of humor. Each forms a part of what became known as the Chicano art movement.
    
One of the primary aims of the Chicano movement was to establish kinship with Mexico's ancient past as part of the effort to define the historical and cultural identity of the Chicano people. This was best expressed with the use of Aztlan in some of the names chosen by artists. An example is Los Toltecas en Aztlan (The Toltecs in Aztlan), organized in San Diego, California. Another reference to Mexico's ancient past was made by a San Antonio based artist group who named themselves Tlacuilo (writer or artist in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs). Our Lady of Guadalupe, closely linked with Mexican and Chicano identity, was used by Los Artes Guadalupanos de Aztlan (The Arts or Artists of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Aztlan), an artists' group based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
    
Some of the artists' groups used Raza (People), as in the case of Pintores de la Nueva Raza (Painters of the New People), organized in San Antonio, Texas. Some used Chicano, as in the case of Movimiento Artistico Chicano (MARCh, Chicano Art Movement), organized in Chicago, Illinois.
   
Other names reflect a sense of humor, as in the case of the Sacramento, California group known as the Rebel Chicano Art Front (RCAF), but later changed to Royal Chicano Force when someone asked whether the acronym stood for that name or the Royal Canadian Air Force.
 
The beginnings of the Chicano art movement can best be understood by studying the manefestoes that dealt with economic, social, political, educational, cultural and artistic issues. They served as a vehicle and support system for the artists and their respective groups.

-Dr. Jacinto Quirarte
University of Texas at San Antonio