In March 2018, UUSM Art Director Beverly Alison brought amazing works by highly acclaimed Chicana artist Margaret Garcia to our Art Wall. The show came to the attention of Chicano art collector Cheech Marin and he bought two of Garcia’s works from the UUSM art show. Those two paintings are now on display at the newly opened The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, CA. One month after The Center opened, on July 15, Beverly visited the museum to see the purchased artwork.
The 2018 press release included this information about the artist:
“Borden House in Echo Park” – oil on wood panel
Garcia relates of her childhood and artistic viewpoint: “I grew up in Boyle Heights / East L.A. … the refuge of many displaced residents of Chavez Ravine. Considered a haven for some of the lefties, Jews, Russians, Japanese, African-Americans, and Mexicans, I learned tolerance, which was reinforced by a diversity of teachers as well as my father and grandmother; I flourished and appreciated the differences…Yet with all of that it wasn’t until 1969 that I learned and embraced the term Chicano. The term allows me to embrace all facets of my culture and became like a rebirth of my identity. It doesn’t mean that every work of art I do must be culturally identifiable, political, representational, or even colorful. Though I don’t avoid those things, I define Chicano Art by producing it.”
Margaret Garcia is a practicing and regularly exhibiting artist and teacher in Los Angeles. Her work is represented in museums and collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Cheech Marin Collection. She received the William Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, the Feitelson/Lundberg Award, and, California Community Foundation Grant, among others. As a mentor, she nurtures and teaches and has taught a good number of artists in her community.
Contact our Art Director Beverly Alison for further information about exhibiting or purchasing art on our Art Wall. Watch the Announcements for more information about our exciting upcoming monthly Art Wall art shows.
This is too cool!!