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.
Leslie King-Hammond and Judith Wilson. Panel "NOVAE: William H. Johnson and Bob Thompson", California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, 1990 May 4. Judith Wilson papers, 1966-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Linda Bihun-Werner and Leslie King-Hammond. Interviews with Dr. Leslie King Hammond and Paula Bauer, 1992 April. Linda Bihun-Werner writings and interviews, 1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Black printmakers and the W.P.A. : [exhibition] the Lehman College Art Gallery, February 23-June 6, 1989 / Leslie King-Hammond, curator ; biographical entries by Elisabeth Lorin ; exhibition organized by the Lehman College Art Gallery, the City University of New York, Bronx, New York ; circulated by Gallery Association of New York State
Art as a verb : the evolving continuum : installations, performances and videos by 13 African-American artists : [exhibition] November 21, 1988-January 8, 1989 / essays by Leslie King-Hammond and Lowery Stokes Sims
Ritual and myth : a survey of African American art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, June 20-November 1, 1982 / [text by Dr. Leslie King Hammond, guest curator]
Art as a verb : the evolving continuum : installations, performances, and videos by 13 African-American artists : November 21, 1988-January 8, 1989, Maryland Institute, College of Art ... / essays by Leslie King-Hammond and Lowery Stokes Sims
