The Chicano Collection at Plaza de la Raza

For our anniversary Joey and I decided to spent part of our day checking out "The Chicano Collection" presented by Cheese Marin at La Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles. The park and the little lake around it was so cute and we parked at one end and walked through the park to La Plaza. We walked around looking for the gallery with no luck so we entered the office. They opened up the gallery just for us. The exhibit was gorgeous and afterwards we got a tour of the offices that were filled with art. Many pieces were donated or just left by the artist. We got to see the art studio were people can take classes and the theatre where kids put on an original play where they do everything from writing to lighting and props.

We also got to see the projects done by the students of the mural class. Here was last years project.

And here is the work in progress for this year. These kids get to work with established professional artist. It's such a great program.

Back to the exhibit...

The exhibit is prints of original pieces in Cheech Marin's collection. So not as awesome as seeing the real thing but still pretty cool. Here are some highlights...

Axis Bold as Love
by George Yepes

La Virgen de Guadalupe and Other Baggage
by Rupert Garcia

La Estrella Que Cae
by Adan Hernandez

Little Girl with Yellow Dress
by Patssi Valdez

Recortando de Frida
by Jose Lozano

Janine Age 39 Mother of Twins
by Margaret Garcia

Los Piscadores
by Jesse Trevino

Herbert Siguenza
by Eloy Torrez

The Arrest of the Paleteros
by Frank Romero

Hombre Que le Gustan Las Mujeres
by Cesar Martinez

Kill the Pachuco Bastard!
by Vincent Valdez

Wedding Photos- Hollenbeck Park
by David Botello

And then this was this one that reminded me why I fell in love with Chicano art in the first place...

Quinceanera
by Carmen Lomas Garza 

Carmen Lomas Garza paints these beautiful scenes of family life. I remember seeing her artwork for the first time and recognizing my family and my life in them. Growing up art was something that seemed unattainable, like it wasn't for us. Art was fancy and expensive and filled with people and faces that never looked like mine. Then I saw Carmen Lomas Garza and there I was. There was my Nana lighting candles for the Virgen at church. There was us making tamales during Christmas. There was my Pops cutting and cleaning cactus. There were me and my cousins hitting the pinata at a birthday party. There was us walking Las Posadas. There we were hanging in an art museum. All of a sudden art wasn't just accessible it was like a mirror. It made me look at my life and my family so differently. My life and the normal everyday things were now beautiful. They were worthy to be works of art.