While we're about halfway through
Hispanic Heritage Month and tonight we
are taking a closer look at Sacramento's
Chicano art movement and ABC 10s.
Laura painter here. Laura,
by the way, welcome to the show.
I'm so happy that you're here.
Me as well, but you're with
me now and you talk to some
really powerful women who are using art and
activism together and I absolutely love
it. Yeah, that is so true, Alex.
So poderosa means powerful in Spanish.
And that is exactly,
really exactly what these women are.
A women LED mural.
Project, called Sacramento Poderosas,
is a community driven project
grounded in social justice,
highlighting local Latinas and Chicanos
and their contributions to our community.
We got a sneak peek at the mural
still in progress, and talked with
the Poderosas about its meaning.
Check it out. Ohh my.
This mural really just portrays that
I'm a product of all these women.
Larger than life and standing proud,
these poderosas or powerful women
have dedicated their lives to change.
Two poderosas, Margarita,
Berta Avila and Alma Elizabeth Lopez Flores,
are seeing themselves on this
mural for the first time.
I feel emotional right now, you know,
just just thinking about it,
because I know that I know.
Much of the story of these women,
what they have contributed
to the community, you know,
what they have shared of themselves
to be able to really address the the
issues that are so prominent with
there being education, immigration.
This mural is dedicated to preserving
the history of Latina and Chicana
women in the Sacramento Valley,
fighting for racial,
political and social justice
women including Margarita and Alma
Almas. Standing right next to me,
you know, in the mural,
and she was a student that worked with me.
She was a student organizer.
And to see what she's doing
is like another full circle.
And to have been able to
stand next to her, you know,
in this mural depicted in that way,
was an honor for me.
More than 60 women were nominated to
be portrayed here. For the 9 chosen.
It was a humbling experience.
One of the reasons I decided to to
to say yes to the mural is because
I know some of the young women.
That I worked with nominated me,
and I definitely want to show that,
you know, yes, we can love unconditionally,
but we we can also receive love.
And for us to give ourselves
permission to do that,
you see women of all ages, from all
walks of life who are still active
in their communities today. We're
definitely not a static community,
and not neither are we monolithic. Just
as the poderosas are diverse,
so is the mural striking symbolism.
A lot of the symbolism really come from the.
The women themselves on what how
they wanted to be represented,
how they see themselves.
The Poderosas countries and
cultures are represented in their
clothing and in the stacks of
books showing colors of different
Latin American national flags.
This stack of brown books even
represents the different skin
tones of Latinas and Chicanos.
There's so many women that are doing a
lot of great things, but they're not.
They're the invisible stories
that are not being told
art. As power lead muralists
Ruby Chacon says this work.
Is flipping traditional Western
narratives on their heads. It's gonna
make people question what
they've been told for all this,
this time and. Quite so, quite.
And questioning it is is a is a
great tool to like changing things.
And that includes changing ideas
of women's roles in society,
debunking those myths as well as far
as images that hypersexualized women,
particularly brown and black women,
right in in media,
and issues of objectifying.
And when you objectify you,
you attempt to control what is
there in front of you and saying.
This is how we're going to see you.
This is how we're going to position you,
and thus it's going to allow others to
treat you and position you in that way,
Polee Rosas tell me.
This mural takes back that power.
Women showing how they want to be
portrayed, giving women courage.
That courage is going to
get other women to speak up.
It's going to allow other
women to also be vulnerable.
Courage and power are themes
in the Chicano art movement,
which scholars say started
about 60 years ago.
And murals play a big.
Role murals like this are a
statement in themselves in
how they are made. I think
the beauty of of doing murals is
that it's a collective effort,
dignity, justice and compassion.
Themes seen here in big,
bold colors telling the story
of Sacramento's poderosas.
In their own words,
the the monarch butterfly represents
a lot of the transformations that
we all go through. Is this a full
circle moment for you?
I think it is. You know,
if you're going to put it that way,
right, it's like.
It brings a lot of love and peace,
you know, to me in that
knowing that this work is.
Continuing on to have the opportunity
to have this mural right here it it
puts at the forefront that we're
not going to allow that anymore.
Absolutely beautiful.
I never thought of a mobile mural.
That's really cool. Yeah, but
how is this funded? Yeah.
So I don't wanna forget anyone cause
there's a lot of support for this project.
It's a really, really a great thing.
It's funded by Smudge Shine program,
also the California Humanities,
and that's a nonprofit partner of the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
And then doctor Enrique E
Figueroa Hente Chicana Solymos
Chicanos fund and the Sacramento
Arts and Culture match program.
So a lot of people,
a lot of support for sure,
but when is it? Gonna be ready.
I think that's the question
everyone is waiting for me
to ask, right?
Yeah, it's gonna be ready, I mean, soon.
So they anticipate February,
they're gonna have a ribbon cutting.
They suspect that that time and they're
not sure where it's gonna be yet.
But there's a lot of forward pieces with
this and everyone's gonna get a chance
to see it cause it's gonna be mobile,
it's gonna be out there in the community.
And they're not done yet.
They're going to have some
more educational materials
that they're planning as well.
So lots
to go. Well, thank you so much.
Of course, we'll keep you updated.