An interview of Santa Barraza conducted 2003 November 21-22, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in Kingsville, Texas.
Barraza speaks of her childhood, family and early education; picking cotton in the summer; the University of Texas, Kingsville; meeting Carmen Lomas Garza and learning graphic design; her daughter Andrea; involvement with Mayo, a Mexican-American Youth Organization; Austin, Tex. and the differences between UT Kingsville and UT Austin; and Acuña Rodolfo's book, "Occupied America: the Chicano's Struggle Toward Liberation," 1972. Barraza also discusses Jacinto Quirarte and the first formal art history class on Mexican-American art; the formation of MAS, Mujeres Artistas del Suroeste; the Conferencia del Plástica Chicana, held September 13-16, 1979 in Austin, Texas; Con Safo; use of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in her artwork; stories of witchcraft; La Llorona; MACLA, the Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, founded in 1989 in San Jose, California; teaching at Pennsylvania State University; her studio space in Kingsville, Texas; the distinction between Chicana and Latina; the visual artists Faith Ringgold and Leslie King Hammond whom Barraza admires; her travels to Oaxaca and other places; her book, "Santa Barraza, Artist of the Borderlands," 2001. Barraza also recalls Ben Bailey, Maurice Schmidt, José Rivera, Amado Peña, Israel Reyna, Sylvia Orozco, Barbina Modesta Treviño, Nora González Dodson, Rita Starpattern, Raquel Tibol, Jorge Bustamante, Liliana Wilson, Isabel Juárez, Viola Delgado, Kathy Vargas, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Santa Barraza (1951-) is an artist from Kingsville, Texas. Cary Cordova (1970-) is an art historian from Austin, Texas.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 13 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives.
The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Santa Barraza, 2003 November 21-22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection, 1865–1872, is a product of and owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Copyright for digital images is retained by the donor, FamilySearch International; permission for commerical use of the digital images may be requested from FamilySearch International, Intellectual Property Office, at: cor-intellectualproperty@ldschurch.org.
Collection Citation:
Courtesy of the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch International, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
