Artist’s Work Creates Public Awareness of Femicides in Juarez

  The San Diego Public Library will host the second annual Gracia Molina de Pick Latina Feminisms Lecture, presented by the Chicano/a~Lat-ino/a Arts and Humanities minor program at UC San Diego.  Featured artist and scholar Victoria Delgadillo will present this year’s lecture, entitled “Art Activism and the Collective Voice”.  The free event takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 13, in the auditorium of San Diego’s Central Library, located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego.

 Victoria Delgadillo explores the power of the artistic collective and how various associations have amplified her work as an artist.  In “Art Activism and the Collective Voice” she will discuss her part in increasing international efforts to resolve the femicides in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and show several of her short films about the tragic events and how they have become an emblem for the dangers of a globalized labor force that operates without regulation or protections.

 In 2002 Ms. Delgadillo received awards from the Los Angeles City Council, El Ins-tituto Cultural de León, Guanajuato (Mexico) and La Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (Mexico) for creating public awareness about the murders of women in Ciudad Juarez through art.  In 2003, her written account on the curatory process for the first international exhibit on those femicides was published in the academic journal Aztlán.  Delgadillo works in printing, painting, mixed media, curating, producing, film making and is featured regularly on public radio, commenting on issues of art and activism.

 Gracia Molina de Pick is a major figure in both the Chicano and women’s movements of the late 1960s and 1970s, a indigenous people, labor, immigrants and lifelong proponent of educational reform.  She was instrumental in establishing Chicano Studies programs at several colleges and universities in San Diego, including UC San Diego.

 UC San Diego created the Chicano/a~Latino/a Arts and Humanities minor program in 2002 to complement all majors by permitting students to gain a wide knowledge of diverse Spanish-speaking and indigenous histories and cultures in a hemispheric and global context. A financial gift from Molina de Pick is used to enhance the program by bringing renowned scholars and artists to campus for public lectures, performances and exhibits, as well as generating interest and educational opportunities at UC San Diego for Chicano/a and Latino/a youth.

 Learn about other events at the San Diego Public Library’s Central Library and 35 branches, find links to numerous additional resources, or search for materials in the Library’s catalog online at www.sandiegolibrary.org.