Above image credit – Beatriz Mejia ‘Cautiva’

Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond

• Exhibition: August 28, 2016 – January 15, 2017
• Opening Reception: Thursday, October 6, 2016, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
• For more information, visit www.riversideartmuseum.org

Riverside CA – The Riverside Art Museum (RAM) proudly presents Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond, running August 28 – January 15, 2017, with a free, open-to-the-public Opening Reception on Thursday, October 6, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG), a community art center based in East Los Angeles, has been an integral part of Chicano art production since its foundation in 1970. SHG played a critical role in the Chicano movement and the art of printmaking was a means to expand activism around civil rights and ethnic pride.

Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond includes selections from RAM’s Permanent Collection by some of the iconic artists and master printmakers from SHG that were created in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Diane Gamboa, Gronk, Leo Limón, Roberto Gutiérrez, José Alpuche, Patssi Valdez, and more. On loan from SHG are works by Margaret “Quica” Alarcón, Poli Marichal, Dewey Tafoya, Miyo Stevens-Gandara, Dalila Paola Mendez, Yamylis Brito Jorge, Carlos del Toro, Dairén Fernández, Aliosky García, Octavio Irving Hernandez, Pavel Acevedo, and others.

The deployment of printmaking as a vehicle for grassroots organizing and political and social commentary was profoundly influenced by the Mexican artists of the 1920s and 1930s, such as Jose Guadalupe Posada, Leopoldo Méndez, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, as well as art collective Taller de Gráfica Popular in Mexico City. Drawing upon these influences, Franciscan nun Sister Karen Boccalero formed SHG, joining a wave of other Chicano printmakers in Chicago, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Sister Boccalero’s roots in activist art can be traced to her education at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles where she studied under Sister Corita Kent, influential printmaker and social justice advocate of the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1974, SHG also launched Barrio Mobile Art Studio, a vehicle equipped with art supplies that went directly into Latino communities “to develop the individual’s aesthetic appreciation, to provide an alternative mode of self-expression, and to increase the individual’s appreciation of Chicano culture.” SHG continues its legacy of bringing art to the community through its programs. The Barrio Mobile Art Studio is still active today and was recently brought to Riverside’s Eastside by RAM and the Riverside Community Health Foundation. An exhibition of prints created with Eastside residents and the Barrio Mobile Art Studio will be on view in the Taylor Family Gallery.

“We are proud to present this new exhibit and its related programming,” says Eric Romero, RAM Community Relations, “designed with feedback from RAM’s new community partnerships and with our strategic vision in mind. This exhibit serves as a showcase of the museum’s mission to better integrate our diverse audiences into our institution through quality education and outreach, and exhibits that highlight our Permanent Collection.”

Related Programming

Pochoir and Oil Resist with Cynthia Huerta | Saturday, September 10, 12 noon – 3 p.m., Free with paid admission or membership

Artist Cynthia Huerta will be leading visitors in a printmaking workshop that explores pochoir, a sophisticated stenciling technique. She will also be teaching oil resist to produce prints in this workshop/taller.

Chine-collé with Pavel Acevedo | Thursday, September 15, 5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Free with paid admission or membership

Artist Pavel Acevedo will lead this workshop/taller in chine-collé, a special technique in printmaking, in which the image is transferred to a surface that is bonded to a heavier support.

Talk and Tour with Joel Garcia of Self Help Graphics | Saturday, September 24, 12 noon – 1 p.m., Free with paid admission or membership

Join the Director of Programs & Operations at Self Help Graphics & Art Joel Garcia for a talk about the history, legacy, and ongoing efforts to create Latino art in East Los Angeles and beyond, and tour our Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond exhibit with Joel as he discusses the artists of Self Help Graphics’ past and present.

Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond Opening Reception + Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration | Thursday, October 6, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., Free

Please join us for the Opening Reception of Self Help Graphics: Aztlán, the Permanent Collection, and Beyond during the October Artswalk. Come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with SHG and local artists, as well as with the Riverside County Mexican American Historical Society’s “Roots of Our Family” pop-up exhibition and speaker Professor Raymond Buriel at 6:30 p.m. Professor Buriel will be speaking on Mexican Culture and the Citrus Industry in Riverside.

Alebrijes with Cosme Cordova | Saturday, October 15, and Sunday, October 16, 12 noon – 3 p.m., Free with paid admission or membership

Join Cosme Cordova for this special two-day workshop and learn how to make alebrijes, brightly colored Oaxacan-Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. Though these sculptures are traditionally made of wood, Cosme will be helping visitors create fun papier mâché alebrijes.

The Riverside Art Museum integrates art into the lives of people in a way that engages, inspires, and builds community by providing high quality exhibits and art education programs that instill a lifelong love of the arts. RAM relies on the generosity of members and donors to support its exhibitions, education programs, and special events. A 60-plus-year-old, non-profit cultural arts institution housed in a National Historic 1929 building designed by Hearst Castle and AIA Gold Medal-winning architect Julia Morgan, the museum welcomes over 50,000 visitors a year. The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m. For information on exhibits, events, classes, memberships, or sponsorship opportunities, visit www.RiversideArtMuseum.org. Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/riversideartmuseum), Twitter (RAMRiverside), Instagram (@riversideartmuseum), and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/ramarts).