The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Emanuel Martinez measure 5.7 linear feet and date from 1951 to 2019. The collection documents Martinez's career as a muralist and personal life through school records, incarceration records, and other biographical material; correspondence with family members and various organizations in regards to art projects; donations, consignments, invoices, and other personal business records; correspondence, proposals, sketches, contracts, and other material related to commissions Martinez completed for various individuals and organizations; loan forms, correspondence, and announcments related to exhibitions Martinez participated in; artist statements, awards, writings, commencement speeches, and other professional activity material; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, posters, and other printed material; and photographs and slides of of artwork and some personal photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Emanuel Martinez measure 5.7 linear feet and date from 1951 to 2019. The collection documents Martinez's career as a muralist through school records, incarceration records, and other biographical material; correspondence with family members and various organizations in regards to art projects; donations, consignments, invoices, and other personal business records; correspondence, proposals, sketches, contracts, and other material related to commissions Martinez completed for various individuals and organizations; loan forms, correspondence, and announcments related to exhibitions Martinez participated in; artist statements, awards, writings, commencement speeches, and other professional activity material; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, posters, and other printed material; and photographs and slides of of artwork and some personal photographs.
Biographical material consists of encounters with the law from his youth, such as citations for minor crimes, school records, Colorado Governor executive orders recognizing Martinez, and other awards and recognitions received by Martinez.
Correspondence is comprised of letters with Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzalez of the activist group Crusade for Justice, letters from family members such as his mother, Jennie Martinez, and nephew, Edward Martinez, and letters from a group of school children who visited his studio. Also included are letters with the City of Denver, Hispanic Culture Foundation, National Council of La Raza, Museo de las Americas, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Also included are letters of recommendation written on behalf of Martinez by friends and colleagues.
Writings and lectures consist of writing by Martinez and others, lectures and presentations given by Martinez, and high school graduation commencement speeches by Martinez. Some of the material includes journal entries by Martinez, a collection of poems, lectures for the First National Chicano Youth Conference and "Pioneering of Community Murals" lecture. Also included are "America, America" by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales and "Emanuel Martinez: A Biographical Report" by Linda Sanchez.
Personal business records consist of donations made by Martinez in the 90s and 00s, consignments, invoices, and receipts. Among the materials are consignments for the Museo de las Americas; invoices for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wiconsin, Madd Castings Inc., and the Helen Jordan Bust. Also included are more general files of correspondence, receipts, invoices for organizations and companies such as Beyond Bronze Inc., La Napoule Art Foundation, and Salazar Capitol Management Inc.
Commission files consist of files of correspondence, proposals, agreements, and some receipts for works Martinez did for various individuals and organizations around the country. Also included in some of the files are sketches and blueprints of the proposed works and photographs of the completed works. There are also files of rejected proposals. Some of the commissions include: the Denver Housing Authority, "La Alma" Mural, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center, Peoria Pioneer Memorial, Colorado Fallen Firefighter Memorial, West High School Center for International Studies Awards, and "Raza on the Rocks" poster design. A few files also contain CDs.
Exhibitions files consist of correspondence, loan agreements, and printed material such as announcements and clippings in relation to exhibitions that Martinez participated in. Some of the exhibitions include: "Chicano Art:Resistance & Affirmation," "Emanuel Martinez: A Retrospective," "Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum," and "Sangre Nueva-New Blood." Also included are files of 1-day exhibitions aranged by year.
Professional activity consists of material such as artist statements, residencies and fellowships, and work with various committess and organizations. There are also files related to teaching at summer camps and workshops hosted by Martinez. Some of the material includes: the Denver Opportunity Arts & Crafts Training Program, Denver Public Schools School of Arts Art Advisory Committee, Art Students League of Denver, Latino Research and Policy Center, Cesar Chavez/Dolores Huerta Curriculum Project, Foster Elementary School Summer Arts Camp. Also included are some Anti-Violence sketches and designs for Poder logo.
Printed Material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements, exhibitions catalogs, and auction catalogs. Among the materials are catalogs for the Colorado Business Alliance for Youth, catalogs for the Artists for Colorado's Youth Art Auction, a calendar featuring Martinez's artwork, "The Mestizo Head: Alchemical Images of the Chicano Coniunctio" by Marcos Sanchez-Traquilino, and "Selected Reading Material on the Mexican and Spanish American."
Photographic material cosists of primarily of photographs and slides of paintings and sculptures. Also included is a file on Martinez with photographs of him as a child, at work in his studio, posed with sculptures, and at receptions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in nine series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1962-2018 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1962-2014 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, 1966-2003 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1966, 1980-2015 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 5: Commission Files, 1981-2019 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, OV 8)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1989-2014 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 7: Professional Activity Files, 1967-2018 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 4-6)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1955-2018 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)
Series 9: Photographic Material, 1951-2015 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Emanuel Martinez (1947- ) is a painter, muralist, and educator in Denver, Colorado.
Martinez was born in Denver where he spent a troubled youth until the age of 13. He was introduced to art through his lifelong friend and mentor Bill Longley who recognized Martinez's talent and arranged for an art apprenticeship. Martinez also studied with David A. Siqueiros and Francisco Zuniga, and at Metropolitan State College of Denver. In 1968 he established his own studio.
As an artist, Martinez is deeply affected by social and political issues. He has been a member of the Chicano activist group Crusade for Justice and was active in the civil rights movement. In 1968, Martinez completed Farm Workers' Altar, a painted wooden sculpture, for the Catholic mass that was held on the day César Chávez completed a 25-day fast in his continuous struggle for social justice. Martinez also completed Tierra O Muerte for activist Reyes Lopez Tijerina. Other works by Martinez include a mural at Alma Center in Lincoln Park and a commissioned portrait of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña.
Martinez worked as an educator at the Student League of Denver for 12 years. He is also involved with the Emanuel Project, an organization named after Martinez that focuses on improving the lives of at-risk youth. With the organization, Martinez has completed approximately 50 murals with students all over the U.S.
Martinez has won numerous awards including the Latin American Educational Foundation scholarship and Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. He has works in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museo de las Americas in Denver among others. His work was shown in the seminal exhibition Chicano Art Resistance and Affirmation, as well as many other national and international exhibitions.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Emanuel Martinez in 2017 and 2021.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Emanuel Martinez papers, 1951-2019. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and The Walton Family Foundation.
Oral History Interviews with Chicano artists in California and San Antonio, Texas Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Frank Romero, 1997 January 17-March 2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Harry Gamboa, Jr. and Gronk, 1999 Apr. 1-16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Judith Baca, 1986 August 5-6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mel Casas, 1996 August 14 and 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Search this
Galería de la Raza (San Francisco, Calif.) Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Carmen Lomas Garza, 1997 Apr. 10-May 27. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Elsa Flores, 1997 Feb. 18-Apr. 30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jacinto Quirarte, 1996 Aug. 15-16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Valadez, 1996 November 25-1997 May 12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Barbara Carrasco, 1999 April 13-26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Willie Herrón, 2000 Feb. 5-Mar. 17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
The research material of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, measures 33.1 linear feet and 1.27 GB and dates from 1965-2004. The collection, amassed throughout Ybarra-Frausto's long and distinguished career as a scholar of the arts and humanities, documents the development of Chicano art in the United States and chronicles Ybarra-Frausto's role as a community leader and scholar in the political and artistic Chicano movement from its inception in the 1960s to the present day.
Scope and Content Note:
The research material of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, amassed throughout his long and distinguished career as a scholar of the arts and humanities, documents the development of Chicano art in the United States. As community leader and scholar, Ybarra-Frausto played dual roles of active participant and historian in the Chicano movement, chronicling this unique political and artistic movement from its inception in the 1960s to the present day.
Deeply rooted in American history, "El Movimiento," the Chicano movement, evolved from Mexican-Americans' struggle for self-determination during the civil rights era of the 1960s. It began as a grassroots community effort that enlisted the arts in the creation of a united political and cultural constituency. Chicano artists, intellectuals, and political activists were instrumental in mobilizing the Mexican-American community for the cause of social justice, and the movement was shaped by the affirmation of a cultural identity that embraced a shared heritage with Mexico and the United States.
Just as "El Movimiento" aimed to instruct and inspire through the recollection and conservation of culture, Ybarra-Frausto's own career as scholar and historian helped to shape the intellectual discourse of the Chicano art. As a leading historian and theoretician in the field of Chicano Studies, he has written extensively on the subject, and has been instrumental in defining the canons of Chicano art. His papers are accordingly rich and varied, and they will be of great use to future scholars.
His research material, dating from 1965 to 1996, are arranged in subject files containing original writings, notes, bibliographies compiled by Ybarra-Frausto and others, exhibition catalogues, announcements, newspaper clippings and other printed material, as well as slides and photographs. Many of these files also include interview transcripts and correspondence with prominent figures in the movement. While this research collection contextualizes Chicano art within the larger framework of Latino and Latin-American culture, the bulk of the files relates specifically to Chicano visual culture. The collection also contains pertinent documentation of the Chicano civil rights movement, material on Chicano poets and writers, and research files on the wider Hispanic community, but these also appear within the context of Chicano culture in general.
Prominent among the bibliographies are the many notes and drafts related to the publication of A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of Chicano Art, 1965-1981 (University of California, Berkeley, 1985), which Ybarra-Frausto co-authored with Shifra Goldman. Ybarra-Frausto's files on Goldman, like other files in the collection, document his close associations and collaborations with scholars.
Art historians have traditionally found the categorization of Chicano art a difficult task. Unsure whether to classify the work as "American" or "Latin American," critics often ignored the work altogether. An outgrowth of this dilemma was the proliferation of artists, curators, and critics within the Chicano community, and the papers contain many original writings by Chicano artists about Chicano art, found in extensive files on artists that will be of particular significance to researchers. These often contain exhibition essays, dissertation proposals, and course outlines authored by the artists, along with the standard biographies, exhibition records, and reviews. Some of the files contain rare interviews conducted and transcribed by Ybarra-Frausto. Highlights include conversations with Carmen Lomas Garza, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and members of the Royal Chicano Air Force artist cooperative.
As a member of several Chicano art organizations and institutions, Ybarra-Frausto kept active records of their operation. The extensive files on the Mexican Museum and Galerie de la Raza/Studio 24, both in San Francisco, not only chronicle the history of Chicano art through the records of exhibitions and programming, but also offer case studies on the development of non-profit art institutions. The files on artist cooperatives, organizations, and exhibition spaces cover several regions of the United States, but focus on California, Texas and New York.
Two notable events in the development of Chicano art were the 1982 Califas: Chicano Art and Culture in California seminar at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the 1990 traveling exhibition Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985 (CARA), of which Ybarra-Frausto served as organizer and catalogue essayist. His records document the planning and development of these seminal events. Ybarra-Frausto's files on folk art, altars, posters, murals, performance art, border art, Chicana feminist art, and Southwestern and Mexican imagery (both urban and rural expressions) mirror the diverse forms and subject matter of Chicano art.
Spanning almost four decades of American culture from a Chicano perspective, these files have a unique historical value. The legacy of Chicano art and its contribution to the cultural landscape of this country, kept alive in Ybarra-Frausto's files, attests to the richness and diversity of American art.
Henry C. Estrada
Research Fellow, 1997.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series of subject files. The general contents of each folder have been listed. The subject files are arranged in alphabetical order. While no two files are alike, they may contain résumés, printed and digital material, letters, draft writings, and photographs. Unless otherwise noted, each listing represents one file folder. The abbreviation TYF was used to refer to the name Tomá Ybarra-Frausto throughtout the Series Description.
Autobiographical Note:
Papelitos (little bits of paper), whether rent receipts, paid bills, or piles of personal letters, can become layered bundles of personal history. I have always been a pepenador (a scavenger) and saver of paper scraps. Diary notes, scribbled annotations, and first drafts are often useful indicators of ideas and gestation. Papelitos are the fragments of every-day life that gain expanded meaning integrated into the larger historical events of a period.
In the decade of the 1960s, I started saving ephemeral material--exhibition announcements, clippings of individual artists and of organizations fomenting a Chicano art movement. The social scenarios of the period such as marches, strikes, sit-ins, and mobilizations for social justice all spawned manifestos, posters, leaflets, and other forms of printed material. I somehow managed to assemble and protect the evanescent printed information that recorded the birth and development of Chicano art.
As I started to research and write about Chicano art and artists of the period, I continued to clip, photocopy, and preserve material given me by Mexican-American artists from throughout the nation. My idea was to form an archive that would be comprehensive rather than selective. I knew that it was the offbeat, singular piece of paper with a missing link of information that would attract the scholar.
Today, several decades after the flowering of Chicano art, there is still a lamentable paucity of research and information about this significant component of American art.
It is my fervent hope that this compendium of information will function as a resonant print and image bank for investigators of Chicano culture. Perhaps contained within the archive are the facts that will inspire new visions or revisions of Chicano art and culture--this is my fondest dream.
Dr. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto
New York City, 1998
Related Materials:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto Papers are located at University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Tomás Ybarra-Frausto in 1997, and in 2004.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
(catalogs; exhibition announcements; clippings; artist biography; photocopy of "Art of the Southwest...Art on the Border" [booklet?])
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
(letter to Dr. Guy Bensusan, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, 07/22/1972; Con Safo organizational information: list of needs, meeting notes, mission statement - Brown Paper Report; "General Comments" [by Felipe Reyes?]; clippings; exhibition announcements; catalogs; photographs of Con Safo members; material for TYF's course on Chicano Culture)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Yolanda M. López conducted 2019 December 7- 2020 March 24, by Jennifer González, at López's home in San Francisco, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Yolanda M. López (1942- ) is a political activist and artist in San Francisco, Calif. She is a prominent artist in the Chicano art movement. Interviewer Jennifer González (1965- ) is a professor of History of Art and Visual Culture at the University of California Santa Cruz.
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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Political activists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
