CSRC Newsletter - May 2021

As many of you know, I will be stepping down from my role as CSRC director at the end of this school year. A formal announcement stating my successor will be coming soon, and I will save my sentimental farewell message for the June newsletter. In the meantime, I invite you to join me online Wednesday, May 19, 5:00–6:15 p.m., when I will bring together some of the remarkable people who have assisted and inspired me during my twenty-five years of appointments at the CSRC, including nineteen years as director. I guarantee that this will not be a typical—or boring!—farewell party. Find more information in the Events section below and RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/celebratingchon. I hope to see you there!

 

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega has been awarded a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship for 2021. Noriega will spend his fellowship year completing a manuscript on destructivist artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz, to be published by CSRC Press for the A Ver: Revisioning Art History series. For press coverage, see In the News, below. Other fellows for 2021 include Roberto Tejada, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Art at the University of Houston and author of Celia Alvarez Muñoz, volume 3 in the A Ver series, and artist Pepón Osorio, who is the subject of volume 9 in the A Ver series and whose work was featured in the CSRC-organized exhibition Home: So Different, So Appealing (2017-18). To see the entire list of fellows for 2021, visit the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation website.

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega, along with UCLA professors Eric Avila, Marissa K. López, and Kelly Lytle Hernández, are among the forty members of the Los Angeles Mayor's Office Civic Memory Working Group, which was formed in 2019 to help the city move toward a progressive future by reckoning with its racist past. The group’s report, Past Due, which was released in April, presents eighteen key recommendations that are designed to give a fuller voice to community memory and to foster bottom-up representation. More information about the Civic Memory Working Group and the report can be found at http://civicmemory.la/. 

 

Rebecca Epstein, CSRC assistant director, has been elected by members of the UCLA Faculty Center to the Faculty Center Board of Governors. Beginning September 1, Epstein will serve a three-year term on the board as a member-at-large. The Faculty Center has been undergoing major renovations and is scheduled to reopen this fall.

 

Chicana civil rights activist and environmentalist Lupe Anguiano has been named the 2021 recipient of the Rock Star: Lifetime Achievement Award from Women’s Economic Ventures. Anguiano is the eleventh recipient of the award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant impact on women’s lives. The award will be presented in a public online event on May 21. The Rock Star award is one of several awards that are presented annually by Women’s Economic Ventures to recognize women entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. To register for this free virtual event, click here. The CSRC holds the Lupe Anguiano Papers and hosts the Lupe Anguiano Scholarship Fund. 

 

Kelly Lytle Hernández, professor of history, African American studies, and urban planning, director of the Bunche Center for African American Studies, and former CSRC associate director, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Hernández is among eight UCLA professors to receive this honor this year. See the UCLA Newsroom story here.

 

Research projects led by Kelly Lytle Hernández and Abel Valenzuela are the focus of a new video released by the Division of Social Sciences, Movements for Social Justice. The video can be watched on the division’s YouTube channel here. Hernández is professor of history, African American studies, and urban planning, director of the Bunche Center for African American Studies, and former CSRC associate director. Valenzuela is professor of Chicana/o and Central American studies and urban planning, director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee member.

 

Rubén Hernández-León, professor of sociology and former CSRC advisory committee member, will be the new director of the UCLA Latin American Institute (LAI). He will begin a five-year term on July 1. Hernández-León is currently director of the Center for Mexican Studies within the LAI.

 

The CSRC congratulates Maylei Blackwell on her promotion to full professor in the departments of Chicana/o and Central American studies and women’s studies. Blackwell is also affiliated faculty in the American Indian studies and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies programs. Blackwell is a member of the CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee.

 

On April 20, Charlene Villaseñor Black, CSRC associate director and professor of art history and Chicana/o and Central American studies, gave the talk “Thinking about Migration through Latinx Art” as part of the Ruth Woolsey Findley and William Nichols Findley History of Art Lecture Series at Cornell University.

 

On April 2, an opinion piece by Genevieve Carpio, assistant professor of Chicana/o and Central American studies and chair of the CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee, was published in The Washington Post. “Her Crazy Driving Is a Key Element of Cruella de Vil’s Evil: Here’s Why” explores the trope of the “crazy woman driver.” The article can be read here.

 

Héctor Calderón, professor of Spanish and Portuguese and former CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee member, was quoted in a recent article about the UCLA Archive of Healing, which Calderón helped create as a young researcher in 1965. The story was published on the website Atlas Obscura and can be read here.

 

Artist Daniel Joseph Martinez, whose work was featured in the CSRC-organized exhibition Home: So Different, So Appealing (2017-18), has been awarded a 2021-22 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. See the press release announcing all this year’s winners here.

 

A memorial website honoring scholar and curator Juan A. Martínez, who passed away last October, is now available for viewing here. Among his many publications, Martínez was the author of María Brito, volume 4 in the A Ver series from CSRC Press. CSRC director Chon A. Noriega contributed to the remembrances on the site.

 

Lindsay Pérez Huber, associate professor in the Social and Cultural Analysis of Education program at Cal State Long Beach and former CSRC visiting scholar, has published the anthology Why They Hate Us: How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education (Teachers College Press, 2021). Huber co-edited the volume with Susana M. Muñoz, associate professor in the School of Education at Colorado State University. Daniel Solórzano, professor of social science and graduate education and CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee member, wrote the foreword.

 

George J. Sánchez, professor of American studies and ethnicity and history at USC, has published the book Boyle Heights: How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy (University of California Press, 2021). Sánchez conducted research for the book at the CSRC and used materials from the Edward R. Roybal Papers.

 

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), in partnership with the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR), has received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to continue its Dissertation Completion Fellowship Program for doctoral candidates in Latino studies who are using humanities-based research methods. The program was launched in 2014. Universities participating in the program are UIC, City University of New York, University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin, and UCLA, where the program is managed through the CSRC.

  

Gregg Barrios, playwright, poet, and CSRC collections donor, has endowed an annual poetry prize for the best performance at the annual Mega Corazón spoken word festival in San Antonio, Texas. The winner, who will receive a $500 prize, will be selected by the online audience and announced at the end of April, which is National Poetry Month. For more information and to vote for this year’s winner, visit https://urban15.org/mega-corazon/

 

In December, Arhoolie Records celebrated its sixtieth anniversary and the Arhoolie Foundation celebrated its twenty-fifth with an online musical event honoring musicians, organizations, and individuals dedicated to roots and regional music. The video of the celebration is now available to watch online. The Arhoolie Foundation is a CSRC community partner on the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Music.

 

Don’t miss this month’s live shows from Frontera Collection ¡En Vivo!, featuring music from the Arhoolie Foundation’s Frontera Collection. Hosted and DJ’d by Juan Antonio Cuellar, the two two-hour live bilingual programs will feature music from the collection. Tune in Thursdays, May 12 and 27, starting at 6:00 p.m. on YouTube. Complement your experience by exploring the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Music, which is hosted by the CSRC, the Arhoolie Foundation, and the UCLA Digital Library and features blog posts by music writer Agustín Gurza.

 

A “Critic’s Pick” review of the exhibition Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell, organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum in collaboration with the CSRC and currently on view at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City.

The New York Times, April 22, 2021 (PDF)

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega was quoted in a story about Latino actor Danny Ramirez, who will play the first Latino superhero in a Hollywood feature film.

The Hollywood Reporter, April 16, 2021 (PDF)

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega was mentioned in a story about the reopening of the Institute and Museum for California Art at UC Irvine.

Los Angeles Times, Daily Pilot, April 15, 2021 (PDF)

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega was named one of eight UCLA professors to receive Guggenheim fellowships this year, as reported by UCLA Newsroom.

UCLA Newsroom, April 12, 2021 (PDF)

Also in UCLA News Daily Highlights, April 12, 2021 (PDF)

 

The School of Theater, Film, and Television reported on the awarding of a Guggenheim fellowship to CSRC director Chon A. Noriega, who is a distinguished professor of film and television.

UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television blog, April 9, 2021 (PDF)

 

Chon A. Noriega, CSRC director, was named in a story in Artforum about the 2021 Guggenheim fellows who are conducting arts-based projects.

Artforum, April 8, 2021 (PDF)

 

CSRC director Chon A. Noriega was named in a story in ArtNews about the 2021 Guggenheim fellows who are conducting arts-based projects.

ArtNews, April 8, 2021 (PDF)

 

A review of the exhibition Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell, organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum in collaboration with the CSRC and currently on view at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City.

Hyperallergic, April 6, 2021 (PDF)

 

 

Please join us online when Vanessa Díaz, assistant professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o studies at Loyola Marymount University, presents her new book, Manufacturing Celebrity: Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters in Hollywood (Duke University Press, 2020). Díaz draws on her ethnographic fieldwork, experience reporting for People magazine, and interviews with photographers, journalists, publicists, magazine editors, and celebrities in this investigation of how celebrity is manufactured and sold by the US media. Díaz focuses on the scapegoating of Latino paparazzi and the exploitation of women reporters and examines tactics used by media outlets to foster the consumer’s investment in celebrity. This event is organized by the UCLA Department of Anthropology and co-sponsored by the CSRC. In 2016-17 Díaz was the Institute of American Cultures visiting research scholar at the CSRC. This event is open to UCLA faculty, students, and staff only. To attend via Zoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/97160150930

 

Please join us for a roundtable discussion exploring the intersection of history, archiving practices, and academic training. The panel will feature Rosie Bermudez (UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow), Marques Vestal (assistant professor, urban planning), Genevieve Carpio (assistant professor, Chicana/o and Central American studies), Xaviera Flores (librarian and archivist, CSRC), and Joana Chavez (graduate student, Chicana/o and Central American studies). The event is organized by the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies. To attend via Zoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/99096405566

 

Please join us online when José M. Alamillo, professor and chair of the Chicana/o Studies Department at CSU Channel Islands, presents his new book, Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora (Rutgers University Press, 2021). Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Deportes explores the experiences of the Mexican male and female athletes, teams, and leagues and their supporters who fought for recognition and equal treatment on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Despite negative assumptions, the athletes proved that they could compete successfully in a wide variety of sports at every level, from amateur to professional. Their victories empowered their communities while raising awareness about civil rights within and beyond the sporting world. Alamillo will be introduced by Genevieve Carpio, assistant professor of Chicana/o and Central American studies, and Rudy Mondragón, doctoral candidate in Chicana/o and Central American studies, will moderate the Q&A. Alamillo was the 2002-3 UCLA Institute of American Cultures visiting scholar at the CSRC, where he began researching sports history. This event is organized by the CSRC and co-sponsored by the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, the Department of History, and the Center for Mexican Studies. A Zoom link will be sent to registrants the day before the event. This webinar will be recorded and posted on the CSRC YouTube channel.

 

The CSRC and the Fowler Museum are pleased to present a special online program celebrating Chon A. Noriega, who is stepping down this summer after nineteen years as the director of the CSRC. The program will also mark the recent establishment of the Chon Noriega Arts Fund, which will support research-based efforts to advance understanding of the arts within the mission of the CSRC. Join Chon and CSRC friends and collaborators for conversations and presentations that will highlight Noriega’s leadership of the center from the perspectives of arts and culture, civil rights, law, and policy. Special guests include Marla C. Berns (director of the Fowler), Wendy Laura Belcher, María De Los Angeles “Nena” Torres, Carlos M. Haro, Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Cheech Marin, Terezita Romo, the Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard, Thomas A. Saenz, Pilar Tompkins Rivas, and David K. Yoo. The event will also feature poetry readings by Roberto Tejada and Vickie Vértiz and a performance by Dan Guerrero. This event will be recorded and posted on the CSRC YouTube channel.

 

 

On April 5, Xaviera Flores, CSRC librarian and archivist, welcomed admitted Latinx freshman at the event “Your Future Starts Here.” The event provided an opportunity for the newly admitted prospective students to meet faculty and learn about research resources at UCLA.

 

On April 14, Xaviera Flores was an invited speaker for the Association of Moving Image Archivists’ new series, “Visions 2031.” Launched at the AMIA 2021 Annual Conference, the series looks at the future of the profession of media archiving and preservation. Presentations can be viewed online here.

 

On April 19, Xaviera Flores spoke in the digital humanities course DH 199: “In Search of L.A.” Flores discussed community archiving, CSRC collections, and how the CSRC engages with the Chicanx and Latinx communities in Los Angeles to better document their histories. Student in the class are creating a digital hub for presenting histories about L.A. neighborhoods, past and present.

 

The following exhibitions, opening this month or currently on view, include images and artworks from CSRC collections and publications:

 

In accordance with Chancellor Gene Block’s directive to suspend most on-campus operations, the CSRC Library and its archive are closed until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. During this time, CSRC Library staff will remain available via email, and we look forward to engaging with community members remotely. For assistance, please email librarian@chicano.ucla.edu.

 

In 1975, Wayne Healy and David Botello cofounded Los Dos Streetscapers—now East Los Streetscapers. They completed their first mural, Chicano Time Trip, in 1977, and since then, they and their many collaborators have produced over one hundred pieces of public art, including seventy-five multimedia installations. In this latest volume of CSRC Press’s Oral Histories Series, Roberto Tejada, professor of art at the University of Houston and A Ver series author, talks with Healy about his life and career. They are joined by Patricio Villagomez, project manager for East Los Streetscapers. Each volume in the Oral Histories Series is in PDF format and may be downloaded from the CSRC website. The Healy oral history will be available in mid-May.

 

All back issues of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies from CSRC Press, as well as individual essays, are available for download at IngentaConnect. Print and digital subscriptions are also available through this platform. To explore all issues from the past fifty years, and to purchase or subscribe, click here.

 

In accordance with Chancellor Gene Block’s directive to suspend most on-campus operations, the CSRC is closed until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. During this time, CSRC staff will remain available via email (http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/about/staff) and at csrcinfo@chicano.ucla.edu.