CSRC Newsletter - March 2019

VOLUME 17,  NUMBER 6

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Over the years we have greatly appreciated your warm and engaged responses to our newsletter. Each month the newsletter is our chance not only to let you know what we’re doing but also to give shout-outs to our “alumni” who have played a role in our achievements. This month we launch our own blog, the CSRC Post! The blog will offer snapshots of CSRC research projects, archival collections, publications, and more. But even more than that, it is chance for you to hear from the people working on CSRC projects right now, creating research that makes a difference. A new blog entry will be featured each month, with original content written by CSRC staff, student interns, researchers, and community members. Our first blogueros are UCLA senior Lupe Sanchez, who offers reflections on her work with the CSRC’s Moctesuma Esparza Collection and the movie Selena, which is represented in the collection; CSRC archive specialist Doug Johnson, who analyzes Laura Molina’s powerful comic book The Jaguar, from our Self Help Graphics & Art Research Collection; and CSRC staffer and Bruin Michael Aguilar, who describes the user experience (or “UX”) research methods that guided the development of an interactive platform that displayed images from our La Raza Photograph Collection during the La Raza exhibition at the Autry Museum. If you’re interested in contributing to the CSRC Post, please contact Michael Aguilar, CSRC communications and academic programs assistant, at maguilar@chicano.ucla.edu. Visit and subscribe to the CSRC Post!
 
Chon A. Noriega
Director and Professor
 

NEWS

Flores receives award
CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores has been selected to receive a 2019 Archives Education and Advocacy Award from the Los Angeles City Historical Society (LACHS). The Center for the Study of Political Graphics and Self Help Graphics & Art, both CSRC partners, are also among the honorees. Founded in 1975, the LACHS promotes research, study, and education pertaining to the multicultural history of Los Angeles and assists in the preservation of the city’s historic records. Flores will accept the award March 10 at the society’s annual gala and awards ceremony at Wilson Harding Clubhouse in Griffith Park. For more information visit https://www.lacityhistory.org/event.
 
Ruiz among leaders invited to meet Cuban official

Maria Elena Ruiz, adjunct associate professor in the UCLA School of Nursing, CSRC faculty advisory committee member, and former CSRC associate director, was among a small group of health, arts, and education leaders invited by L.A. County supervisor Hilda Solis to attend a reception on February 27 for Miguel Fraga, first secretary of the Cuban embassy. The event was organized to strengthen academic and community partnerships and collaborations with researchers in Cuba. Ruiz’s research interests are in decreasing health disparities for Latinos in the US and globally, and she hopes to expand her programs and collaborations with Cuba and countries that offer universal health care.

Pérez-Torres and Abrego elected to LSA executive council
The CSRC congratulates Rita González on being appointed head curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). González is a former CSRC arts project coordinator, and she authored two groundbreaking CSRC reports pertaining to Latino art: Archiving the Latino Arts before It's Too Late and An Undocumented History: A Survey of Index Citations for Latino and Latina Artists. In collaboration with the CSRC, she co-curated the acclaimed exhibition Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement at LACMA in 2008. She has since gone on to curate numerous shows in the United States and abroad, many of which have celebrated the work of contemporary Latinx artists.
 
CSRC co-presents Con Safos documentary premiere
On March 3 at the Schoenberg Music Building, the CSRC and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Center for Latino Arts presented the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary Con Safos: Reflections of Life in the Barrio. Released for the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the magazine Con Safos in 1968, the film explores the Eastside magazine’s role as a platform for local and national writers, artists, poets, educators, and activists to voice the injustices that plagued the barrios in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Carlos Almaraz, Gilbert “Magu” Sánchez Luján, and Oscar Castillo were among the contributing artists. Directed, edited, and co-produced by Jimmy Velarde, with original music by co-producer Michael O’Neill, the film recognizes Con Safos for its efforts to enlighten and educate a community struggling for social justice.
 
New video on CSRC YouTube
  • Artist's Talk: Sandy Rodriguez presents "Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón" (February 12, 2019) (video) Los Angeles–based Chicana artist Sandy Rodriguez visited the CSRC to discuss her recent work Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, a series of bioregional maps and paintings. Rodriguez replicated pre-Columbian pigments and paper to create the series, which explores the geography and current political climate of the US Southwest and Mexico. The project is a response to the Florentine Codex, a sixteenth-century ethnographic study of Mesoamerican culture and history compiled by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Rodriguez discussed how her project was conceived and how politics, botany, chemistry, interdisciplinary collaboration, civic engagement, and art history all had a role in its creation.

CSRC IN THE NEWS

“A Van Nuys Student 'Walkout': East L.A. and Parkland Activists Inspire School Choir”
The Los Angeles Times featured a piece on an oratorio about the 1968 Eastside school walkouts that was written and performed by students at Van Nuys High School. The production included projections of historical photographs of the walkouts, provided by the CSRC from the La Raza Photograph Collection.
Los Angeles Times (online edition), February 28, 2019 (PDF)
Los Angeles Times (print edition), February 28, 2019 (PDF)
 
“Rita González Appointed Head of LACMA’s Contemporary Art Department”
ARTnews announced the appointment of Rita González as head of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s contemporary art department. Her previous employment at the CSRC is mentioned in the article.  

ARTnews, February 28, 2019 (PDF)

“LACMA Names Rita Gonzalez Head of Contemporary Art”
Artforum announced the appointment of Rita González as head of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s contemporary art department. The article mentions the acclaimed 2008 LACMA exhibition Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement, which González co-curated with Howard N. Fox and CSRC director Chon A. Noriega. 
Artforum, February 28, 2019 (PDF)
 
“Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975”
The website e-flux previewed an event at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that will feature discussions and lectures on topics related to its exhibition Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975, which opens March 15. CSRC director Chon A. Noriega will be among the speakers. (See Events, below.)
e-flux, February 11, 2019 (PDF)
 
“LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes presents Linda Vallejo: Brown Belongings” Broadway World announced the opening of the exhibition Linda Vallejo: Brown Belongings at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. The CSRC is mentioned in the article for its collaboration with Vallejo on her series For Your Consideration: Make 'Em All Mexican.
Broadway World, February 8, 2019 (PDF)
 
“‘Walkout: Past, Present, Repeat’ Explores 1968 East L.A. Student Protests”
Broadway World announced the performance of Walkout: Past, Present, Repeat, an oratorio written by Van Nuys High School students for the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Voices Within oratorio project. Broadway World illustrated the article with an image from the CSRC’s La Raza Photograph Collection. (See Library, below.)
Broadway World, February 7, 2019 (PDF)
 
“La Raza and the Onetime Voice of Chicano Activism”
Riot Material featured a story on the La Raza exhibition at the Autry Museum of the American West, which was organized in partnership with the CSRC. The exhibition was based on the La Raza Photograph Collection at the CSRC and was on view September 16, 2017 through February 10, 2019.
Riot Material, February 6, 2019 (PDF)
 
“Dan Guerrero and Cate Caplin Named Recipients of Lee Melville Award”
Broadway World announced that Playwrights’ Arena will be presenting its annual Lee Melville Award to CSRC collections donor Dan Guerrero. Choreographer and director Cate Caplin will also receive the award. Playwrights’ Arena produces original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights.
Broadway World, February 4, 2019 (PDF)
 

All “In the News” articles are available in PDF format on the CSRC website.

EVENTS

Symposium: “Smithsonian American Art Museum: Artists Respond”
Friday, March 15, 9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
F St. NW and 8th St. NW, Washington, DC
The Smithsonian Museum of American Art will present discussions and lectures on topics related to the exhibition Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975, which opens March 15. Scholars will discuss the work of artists of the Vietnam War era, and artists whose work is in the exhibition will talk about their responses to the war as creators and activists. Participants include Judith Bernstein, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Thomas Crow, Harry Gamboa Jr., Rupert García, Hans Haacke, Melissa Ho, Katherine Markoski, Chon A. Noriega, Fred Ritchin, Martha Rosler, and Carolee Schneemann. For more information, visit the SAAM website.
 

All CSRC events are free and do not require an RSVP unless otherwise noted. Programs are subject to change. For the most current information, visit the Events page on the CSRC website.

CSRC LIBRARY

Flores speaks at Milan Triennial
On March 1, CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores spoke at a public symposium organized in conjunction with the XXII Triennale Milano. Titled Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, the exhibition highlights connections between humans and their natural environments. Flores spoke about the CSRC archives and the legacy of photographer Laura Aguilar, whose work is featured in the exhibition. Broken Nature is on view through September 1. For more information, visit http://www.brokennature.org/.
 
New community partnerships
The CSRC is collaborating with the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington, D.C., to archive the records of The City Project, a Los Angeles–based environmental justice organization founded and led by Robert García. The CSRC will serve as a liaison between the two organizations and will assist with the transfer of ninety linear feet of material to the museum.
 

The CSRC is collaborating with Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Los Angeles (CHIRLA) to assist the organization’s efforts to build an archive of their records. The archive will be located at the CHIRLA offices in downtown Los Angeles. The CSRC will provide guidance regarding the preservation of and public access to their materials. 

The CSRC is assisting CSRC collections donors Rosalio Muñoz and Randolph Tovar as they develop a library and archive for the Church of the Epiphany. The project is being undertaken in conjunction with the restoration of the Lincoln Heights landmark. The basement of the church served as the first home for La Raza newspaper and the site of meetings for Chicano movement leaders, including Sal Castro and César Chávez. CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores is working with the team to assess materials for preservation and access and is consulting on future exhibitions. The restoration project is funded through the 2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets program, which is sponsored by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation along with Main Street America.

CSRC lends La Raza materials to LA Master Chorale

Walkout: Past, Present, Repeat, an oratorio written by students at Van Nuys High School, included projected images from the CSRC’s La Raza Photograph Collection and La Raza Newspaper and Magazine Records. In addition, framed images that appeared in the CSRC traveling exhibition The 1968 Walkouts: Selections from UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Collections were displayed in the auditorium lobby. The production, which was created for the Los Angeles Master Chorale's Voices Within oratorio project, was staged at the high school on March 1 and 2. For more information about the production, visit the LA Master Chorale website.

Soto exhibition in final month
Family, Community, Country: The Nell and Phil Soto Story celebrates the lives and careers of Nell and Phil Soto. Both were pioneering Latino politicians who served in the California legislature and their local city councils and school districts. The Sotos promoted public health policies, green spaces and parks for children, protecting the environment and air quality, equal housing, and head-start education. Nell (1926–2009) and Phil (1926–1997) were also parents, raising six children, and active church members. The exhibition draws from the recently donated Nell and Phil Soto Papers and will be on view in the library and vitrine through the winter quarter. The exhibition is free to the public and viewable during library hours, Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
 
Sonidos de la Frontera exhibition continues
Sonidos de la Frontera: Music across Borders and Time, currently on view at the UCLA Music Library, highlights the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, the world’s largest repository of commercially produced Mexican and Mexican American musical recordings. The exhibition provides a gateway to the collection by using a fraction of the music in combination with material from more than a dozen of the CSRC’s archival collections to present significant moments in Mexican and Mexican American music history. Curated chiefly by CSRC archives specialist Doug Johnson, in collaboration with CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores and music inquiry and research librarian Matthew Vest, the exhibition includes photographs, posters, clippings, pamphlets, flyers, songbooks, and audio recordings in a variety of formats. CSRC collections represented in the exhibition include the Humberto Cané Papers, the Pedro J. Gonzalez Papers, and the Anthony Beltramo Collection. The exhibition, which is a collaboration between the Music and CSRC Libraries, will be on view outside the Music Library Reading Room at the Schoenberg Music Building through June 2019. The Music Library is open seven days a week during regular session. For hours, click here. An online version of Sonidos de la Frontera: Music across Borders and Time, featuring images of artifacts and links to recordings, is now available as a UCLA Library Research Guide. The recordings in the Frontera Collection are available to the public through the University of California’s Digital Library Program.
 
Exhibitions with CSRC loans
The following off-campus exhibitions currently on view include images and artworks from CSRC collections and publications:

To schedule a tour of the CSRC Library, contact CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores at xflores@chicano.ucla.edu or fill out the form on the CSRC Library Services page.

CSRC PRESS

Spring issue of Aztlán
Contested murals on the campus of the University of New Mexico, two classic works of Chicana/o literature, and the prohibition of marijuana are explored in the essay section of the spring 2019 issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. The dossier section focuses on the past, present, and future of Chicanx/Latinx theater and includes a consideration of the continuing relevance of Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit. Texas-based artist David Zamora Casas provides the artwork for the cover and the artist’s communiqué. Visit the CSRC website to view the table of contents and subscription information.