03/10/2020
EXHIBIT COMING DOWN SOON... La Casa Latina Student Center's A.R.T.E. Program
Corazón de mi raza
(August 1997 - March 1998)
by Valentin Guerra
assisted by: Jerry Warmsley, Jr., Daniel Shea and Valeria J. Guerra
The art panels currently on display in La Casa Latina have made their home in PSU’s Multicultural Center for several decades. For several years, two of the three art panels have been on display in the MCC public area, while the third featuring the female figure was hanging in a back work space. Accounts involve the panels being vandalized long ago until it was deemed necessary to remove the more controversial panel from public view.
Our ARTE Program acronym stands for Artistic Resistance Through Empowerment and was begun a couple of years ago with the help of Latinx and Chicanx students to provide a space to display artwork about and by the Latinx diaspora that more closely reflected communities of color on campus. La Casa Latina Student Center through our ARTE Program is proud to display this work for several reasons.
First, as a work of art created by members of the PSU community that most likely involved students, it was important for the work to once again be displayed in its intended form, even if temporarily. They have existed as separate works for years and are now again, a single work of art.
Second, it depicts the struggles and challenges that are still faced by the Latinx community in spite of it being created over 20 years ago. The struggles and triumphs depicted in the work serve as an important reminder, especially in the current political and social climate of the United States, of the importance of representation, visibility, remembering our history, and how far we still have to go. It is also a gentle reminder to present students in our current space, that when it was created, there was no Casa Latina. All of our centers were made possible by advocacy and student activism and that struggle continues to this day by our brothers and sisters who make up the dreamer and MENASA communities.
Lastly, the mural contains positive imagery and symbols that are part of our community's history and culture. The inclusion of symbols more closely related with our Central and South American brothers and sisters shows the great foresight of the original artists in a reality that has been with us for longer than many have recognized. What we now refer to as the Latinx and Chicanx community has always been multifaceted and whether it has been recognized or not, has always included groups even more invisible to many, such as AfroLatinos and indigenous or native peoples.
'Corazón de mi raza' has been on display this winter term and will be coming down soon. We hope you have an opportunity to come and see it in person.
