Semejantes Personajes/Significant Personages Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 10, 2024, 2-3PM
Studio
During the month of August, San Antonio will celebrate Xicanx Month, a city-wide celebration commemorating the Chicano Arts Movement that holds its roots in San Antonio. For Ruby City’s part in this celebration, the artists depicted in Celia Álvarez Muñoz’s exhibition will discuss their experiences being photographed by Muñoz and the shifting cultural landscape they’ve encountered throughout their careers. This panel will be moderated by Mia Lopez, McNay Art Museum Curator of Latinx Art.
Featured Artists: Ethel Shipton, Jesse Amado, Terry Ybañez, Cruz Ortiz, David Zamora Casas, Ana de Portela, and Jim Mendiola.
Space is limited. RSVP here.
About Mia Lopez:
Mia Lopez is the inaugural Curator of Latinx Art at the McNay Art Museum. She has worked with artists and leading contemporary art institutions across the United States for over 15 years. Lopez has previously held curatorial positions at DePaul Art Museum in Chicago and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Exhibitions she has contributed to include Remember Where You Are, LatinXAmerican, and International Pop. Lopez is an alumnus of the Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute. She holds a BA in Art History from Rice University and dual MAs in Art History and Arts Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About Semejantes Personajes/Significant Personages:
Semejantes Personajes/Significant Personages (2002) documents Latinx artists practicing in San Antonio at the time. Muñoz encouraged her subjects to do whatever they wished while she photographed them. She then scanned the images, digitally manipulating them (when this process was still very much in its infancy) to make them appear as though film strips. In so doing, she emphasizes the San Antonio Latinx art community as ever active and lively, even though some may have passed away. Consequently, the images underscore how Latinx art and artists remain an enduring force.