The University of Michigan’s Museum of Art will present a historic Latino arts exhibition entitled La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 – today from December 7th, 2024 through June 15th, 2025.
George Vargas, formerly from Michigan, who is well known for his iconic mural “City Spirit” which graces Southwest Detroit on the southeast corner of Ste Anne’s and Bagley, is part of a major effort by the museum to elevate the contributions of Latino artists. The nationally known author (Contemporary Chican@ Art: Color and Culture for a New America 2010) as well as Nicole Marroquin, and Michelle Hinojosa have been commissioned to produce original works for the exhibit. In addition, a keystone part of the showing will be a retrospective exhibit of the La Raza Art and Media (R.A.M.) COLLECTIVE JOURNAL which will be on display with galley proofs of four original issues the La Raza Art and Media Collective produced between 1976 and 1977. George Vargas was a founding member of the RAM Collective.
I am especially excited to see the exhibit. In addition to viewing these newly commissioned art installations, I can’t wait to see the work of two of my long-time friends, former Casa de Unidad director Ana Cardona and photographer/artist Julio Perazza who will be featured in the R.A.M Collective retrospective. Back in the 80’s, I had the good fortune to work with them on a number of activities such as the annual Unity In The Community Festival, El Barrio newspaper, and countless art exhibits, poetry readings and other community arts programming.
As stated in the Museum’s promotional materials for this exhibit. “During the fervent years of the 1970s at the University of Michigan, a pioneering group of Latina/o students formed La Raza Art and Media Collective. Through self-organized exhibitions, cultural gatherings, and its journal, the collective gathered artists, art historians, poets, and journalists to voice the cultural and political expression of Chicano, Hispanic, and Latin American communities on campus and beyond. This exhibition revisits the 50th anniversary of the foundation of RAM Collective to reflect on the profound impact of these visionary creators by presenting the four original issues of its multimedia journal produced between 1976 and 1977. The journals are exhibited for the first time accompanied by their galley proofs and original artwork preserved at U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.
To highlight the multigenerational links between RAM Collective and today, the journals are framed by original art commissions from three generations of Latinx alumni artists from the U-M Stamps School of Art and Design—George Vargas, Nicole Marroquin, and Michelle Hinojosa.” It further states “This exhibition explores the vital contributions of Latinx artists to Michigan’s cultural landscape and the legacy these important historical works have had on campus and beyond.”
George and I communicated recently where he stated “I’m painting a mural, called “Aztlan del Norte” representing migration beginning with the Aztecs and Mexican traders engaging with indigenous people in Michigan and Great Lakes at UMMA Ann Arbor, showing Latino diaspora from el Sur to el Norte. I’ll be painting November 12th through the 15th at the museum.” He went on to explain “Historians and others call this region Aztlan del Norte. Artists like Vito Valdez and I refer to Aztlan del Norte in our art.”
His mural is somewhat autobiographical as it touches upon his own families’ migration to Michigan. “The mural shows my family migrating up north to work in the fields and factories. My mother picking crops and my dad working in the factory are depicted in my mural.” He noted he will be the first Chicano artist to paint a mural at the UM Museum of Art. He is especially gratified as advocacy for the inclusion of Latino artists in major cultural institutions has been part of his life’s work and mission. During our first discussion on the upcoming exhibit a little less than a month back he mentioned there were plans to hold a reception honoring his mural in April. They also plan to organize an artist panel that will explore and discuss the impact of the student journal he was a part of.
As mentioned, Nicole Marroquon and Michelle Hinojosa are the other two artists commissioned to do original works at the exhibit. Nicole Marroquin is an artist, researcher and professor at UofM’s Stamps School of Arts. She will “intervene archival materials from UofM’s Bentley Library in various prints and wallpaper. Through research and creative practice, she aims to recover and re-present the histories of Black and brown youth and women’s leadership in the struggle for justice.”
Michelle Hinojosa, who recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Stamps in 2023 and was a resident at UofM’s Arts Initiative Creative Career Residency, “will interweave the gallery’s glass with translucent designs inspired by traditional weaving techniques from across Central and South America.”
The art exhibition, La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 – Today, will be heldfrom December 7th, 2024, through June 15th, 2025, at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art,
525 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. The phone number is 734.764.0395. If you have any questions about the exhibit and his work you can reach George Vargas at vargas.george8@att.net
Support for La Raza Art and Media Collective is provided by the U-M Office of the Provost and U-M Arts Initiative.
