So much is happening at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center!

The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) was founded in 1969 with a commitment to foster multidisciplinary research efforts as part of the land grant mission of the University of California. That mission states that University of California research must be in the service of the state and maintain a presence in the local community.

The CSRC Director is Chon A. Noriega, Phd, Professor Of Film, Television And Digital Media. The Associate Director is Charlene Villaseñor Black, Phd, Professor Of Art History And Chicana/O Studies. To learn about all the fine people who make CSRC possible, visit here.

Here are some of the great things happening at the CSRC:

PPI formally launches

The Latino Politics and Policy Initiative (LPPI) at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs held its public launch event December 6 at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles. Kevin de Léon, current president pro tem of the California State Senate and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, delivered the keynote address. Other speakers were Sonja Diaz, LPPI founding director; Scott Waugh, UCLA executive vice chancellor; Darnell Hunt, dean of the UCLA Division of Social Sciences at UCLA; Gary Segura, dean of the Luskin School; Laura E. Gómez, professor of law at UCLA and former CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee chair; and Matt Barreto, co-founder of LPPI, professor of political science and Chicana/o studies at UCLA, and CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee member. The CSRC is a partner in this initiative. To view videos and photos from the event go to http://latino.ucla.edu/.

Butts exhibition opens at LACE

Names Printed in Black, curated by Emily Butts, former curatorial assistant for Home—So Different, So Appealing, opens January 4 and runs through February 11 at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE). Home artist Carmen Argote is among the artists in the show, along with Adriana Corral, Carlos Motta, Lisa Soto, and Samira Yamin. Butts’s exhibition is part of the gallery’s Emerging Curators Program.

Huerta presents new works

Home artist Salomon Huerta will present new paintings this month in his solo exhibition Still Lifes. The exhibition, at There There Gallery in Los Angeles, runs January 6 through February 10. For more information, visit the gallery website here.

Gutiérrez film screens at gallery exhibition

On December 29, ¡Por Favor, No Me Entierren! (Please Don't Bury Me Alive!) (1976), directed by and starring Efraín Gutiérrez, was screened at Nous Tous gallery in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. The screening was part of programming developed for the group exhibition Face to Face, Mouth to Mouth, which showcased works by Rosalee Bernabe, Cinthya Guillen, Robben Muñoz, Oscar Ochoa, and Lauren Woore. The exhibition focused on divergent strategies to investigate transnational narratives that have been historically erased, downplayed, and/or forgotten. Gutiérrez’s film, which is widely described as the first Chicano feature film, was recovered by CSRC director Chon A. Noriega in the late 1990s and restored and preserved by the CSRC in collaboration with the UCLA Film and Television Archive. It was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2015.

New videos on CSRC YouTube

·       Artist Daniel Joseph Martinez Discusses "The House America Built" in “Home" at MFAH (November 16, 2017) (video) Artist Daniel Joseph Martinez discusses his artwork The House American Built in the exhibition Home—So Different, So Appealing, on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) from November 17, 2017 through January 21, 2018. This video was captured for the post "When a House Is More Than a Home: Installations by Daniel Joseph Martinez" on the museum's blog, Inside the MFAH. Video produced by the MFAH.

·       Artists Manuel Mendanha and Juliana Laffitte of Mondongo Discuss "Polyptych of Buenos Aires“ at MFAH (November 16, 2017) (video) The artists discuss their work in the exhibition Home—So Different, So Appealing, on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) from November 17, 2017 through January 21, 2018. This video was captured for the post "Filling in the Details: Mondongo and 'Polyptych of Buenos Aires'” on the museum's blog, Inside the MFAH. Video produced by MFAH.

·       MFAH Staff Members Share Memories of 2017—Includes "Home" (December 26, 2017) (video) This video includes shots of works in the CSRC-organized exhibition Home—So Different, So Appealing, including Camilo Ontiveros's sculpture Temporary Storage: The Belongings of Juan Manuel Montes and Daniel Joseph Martinez's sculpture The House That America Built. Both installations are on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) from November 17, 2017 through January 21, 2018. Video produced by MFAH.

SAVE THE DATES:

“Seeking Educational Justice: The 1968 Chicana/o Student Walkouts Made History”

WHEN: Saturday, March 10, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (conference and exhibition tour); Sunday, March 11, Noon–4:00 p.m. (film screenings)

WHERE: Fowler Museum at UCLA, Lenart Auditorium

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the East L.A. walkouts, the CSRC will present two days of programming. On Saturday, March 10, a speakers’ program will feature walkout participants and scholars; it will conclude with a tour of an exhibition at the CSRC Library featuring related materials from archival collections. On Sunday, March 11, the 1995 documentary Taking Back the Schools and the 2005 HBO film Walkout! will be screened. Producers Susan Racho and Moctesuma Esparza, respectively, will introduce their films. A Q&A will follow the screenings. This event is organized by the CSRC and cosponsored by the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Institute of American Cultures, the Division of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies. 

All CSRC events are free and do not require an RSVP unless otherwise noted. Programs are subject to change. For the most current information, visit the Events page on the CSRC website.

CSRC Library

Chicano History mural on view

The celebrated mural Chicano History, by Eduardo Carrillo, Sergio Hernandez, Ramses Noriega, and Saul Solache, will be on public display as part of the exhibition Testament of the Spirit: Paintings by Eduardo Carrillo at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The mural was painted in 1970 for installation at the CSRC, which had been established a year earlier. The exhibition runs January 21 through June 3, and then travels to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, where it will be on display from June 24 through October 7. For more information, visit: http://pmcaonline.org/exhibitions/eduardo-carrillo/

To schedule a tour of the CSRC Library, contact CSRC librarian Xaviera Flores at xflores@chicano.ucla.edu.

CSRC Press

Home—So Different, So Appealing (special offer)

Now available from CSRC Press: the catalog for Home—So Different, So Appealing, the acclaimed exhibition that explores the universal concept of “home,” whether envisioned as dwelling, residence, or place of origin. Home, which opened at LACMA and is now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the artwork of forty US Latino and Latin American artists. Home breaks ground by placing these works—which span the hemisphere and seven decades of artistic production, from the 1950s to the present, and include paintings, photographs, videos, and multimedia works and installations—in a dynamic dialogue.

Curatorial essays by Chon A. Noriega (UCLA), Mari Carmen Ramírez (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), and Pilar Tompkins Rivas (Vincent Price Art Museum) discuss the works and explore their interrelationships. The plate section includes installation photographs that show how the exhibition promotes this dialogue without imposing a common identity, cultural influence, or inheritance. With more than two hundred illustrations in a lavish format, Home—So Different, So Appealing is the perfect gift for any art lover—and a beautiful volume for holiday giving. Order the catalog today from the distributor, University of Washington Press, or purchase it directly from the CSRC for half price plus shipping, as a thank you to all CSRC friends for your support of the exhibition! To purchase your copies, contact Darling Sianez at support@chicano.ucla.edu or 310-825-3428. Offer valid through the month of January. 

Opportunities

CSRC Communications and Academic Programs Assistant

The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center is looking for a part-time (20 hours per week) communications and academic programs assistant to provide clerical and research support to the CSRC, including assisting with event coordination, social media promotion, website maintenance, record keeping, and other communications-based duties as assigned. Fluency in Spanish and English preferred. For additional information and to apply, click here or visit http://www.ucla.edu/about/careers and search Campus Job Openings for requisition number 27168.

IUPLR/Mellon Fellowship Program for 2018-19

The Inter-University Program for Latino Research is now accepting applications for the IUPLR/Mellon Fellowship Program (academic year 2018-19). The program supports ABD doctoral students in the humanities who are writing dissertations in Latina/o studies. Doctoral students in the social sciences whose research uses humanities methods may also be considered. The fellowship facilitates completion of the dissertation and provides professional development, job market support, and mentoring from Latina/o faculty members.

With support from the Andrew G. Mellon Foundation, IUPLR will select fellows through six designated research centers. Applicants must be affiliated with the following centers to be eligible:  

·       The Center for Mexican American Studies and the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at the University of Texas-Austin

·       The Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston

·       The Chicano Studies Research Center at UCLA

·       The Dominican Studies Institute at CUNY

·       The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY

·       The Latin American and Latino Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago

The fellowship includes a $25,000 stipend, participation in an intensive summer institute in Chicago, and professionalization and writing workshops and programs. For more information and to view the online application, visit https://form.jotform.com/62325487948166.

Application deadline: Tuesday, January 30. All queries should be directed to the Mellon coordinator, Dr. Jennifer Boles, at jlboles@uic.edu. UCLA applicants are additionally asked to contact Dr. Rebecca Epstein, CSRC communications and academic programs officer, repstein@chicano.ucla.edu.

Contacts

To learn more about the CSRC, visit the Center’s website, Wikipedia, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email at csrcinfo@chicano.ucla.edu.

UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center • 193 Haines Hall • Box 951544 • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1544 Campus Mail Code: 154403 • Tel: (310) 825-2363 • Fax: (310) 206-1784