The University of Michigan Museum of Art opened its exhibition “La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 to Today” Dec. 7. The exhibit explores the La Raza Art and Media Collective, a group formed at the University in 1974 to amplify Chicano, Hispanic and Latin American voices through exhibitions, cultural gatherings and a multimedia journal. The exhibit includes four original journal issues and art commissions from three artists. The artists — George Vargas, Nicole Marroquin and Michelle Hinojosa — are Latine alumni of the Stamps School of Art & Design, with Vargas as the founding member of the original collective.
The exhibit features “The Ribbons, the future,” a window installation designed by Hinojosa and “Aztlán del Norte,” a mural designed by Vargas representing migration between Mexico and Michigan. The exhibit also includes collaged wallpapers, three posters inspired by the collective and a sculpture of a female head, all designed by Marroquin.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Dave Choberka, Mellon Foundation curator for University Learning and Programs at UMMA and co-curator of the exhibit, said the exhibit aims to highlight generations of people impacted by the La Raza Art and Media Collective’s work.
“In addition to featuring three issues of the journal, we worked with artists to do original commissions for the show that represent three generations of Latine artists connected to the University who also have working ties with founding members of the organization,” said Choberka. “If you look at the history of the organization, in the late 70s, it became an organization working with partner organizations nationally, so the long-standing influence of the members is one of the reasons we think it’s a compelling story.”
Félix Zamora-Gómez, program coordinator for engagement at the Arts Initiative and co-curator of the exhibit, told The Daily in an interview that preparation for the exhibit started in 2020 with a conversation between Choberka and Vargas.
“The original idea was a retrospective of Latine alumni from the University and the starting point was George and the collective,” Gómez said. “Throughout 2023 we did archival work, basically collecting what we were going to exhibit, trying to find the original artwork included in the journals.”
In an interview with The Daily, Marroquin, professor at the Art & Design School, said her personal connection to the La Raza Art and Media Collective helped her further connect with the exhibit.
“I designed the posters top to bottom using material that I found in George Vargas’ archive at the Bentley Historical Library and I made some assertions on them, things I thought were important about the collective and what it meant,” Marroquin said. “In one poster, I actually collaged in some of George’s photography work. It’s interesting because I intersect with this history in more ways than one. I grew up here, these folks were always at my parents house, and George was a friend to my parents.”
Zamora-Gómez also said faculty members, graduate students and community members were critical to the exhibit’s success. They conducted research and talked to Choberka and Zamora-Gómez about their knowledge of the collective.
“A lot of the foundational work was also done by graduate students who amassed a great amount of material into concise narratives,” Zamora-Gómez said. “When we started to talk about the exhibition, we used these web pages called ¡PRESENTE! put together by graduate students that were a deep dive into Latine student history and they were a pivotal platform for us to build the story of the exhibit.”
Marroquin said she hopes people can use the exhibit to see the La Raza Art and Media Collective as an example of strong community building, especially in times of crisis.
“This organization and other Chicano campus groups were building communities to sustain members through a crisis and help meet basic needs, like helping find housing and financial aid,” Marroquin said. “I hope people can gain practical applications and gain the courage to do their own organizing, because we are walking on a path these folks built.”
LSA sophomore Adele Flores-Noel, who visited the exhibit, said in an interview with The Daily it was an engaging way for students to connect with Latin American, Hispanic and Chicano history at the University.
“I’m a Latine student who loves art, so this exhibit was a really interesting way for me to explore a student group that touched so many people who were passionate about the same things as I am,” Flores-Noel said. “I think the different aspects of the exhibit really pull an important story together. … It’s important for other students to be able to see the work of other diverse campus groups and be able to interact with it and maybe feel even more connected to each other and those who came before us.”
Daily Staff Reporter Sachi Gosal can be reached at sgosal@umich.edu.
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