Artist Activist to Present César Chávez Talk

Luis Genaro Garcia

Artist and educator Luis Genaro Garcia will present a public lecture and art demonstration Thursday, March 28 in celebration of César Chávez at Harvey Mudd College.

Free and open to the public, the presentation will begin at noon in the Aviation Room of the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons.

Garcia’s talk, “Celebrating Community in the Classroom and Beyond: The Core Values of César Chávez in an Educational Setting,” will cover how Chávez’ legacy has influenced arts- and community-based service learning projects that address the community needs of students in a school setting.

In collaboration with the College’s newly formed Latino student club, Society of Professional Latinos in STEMS (formerly known as SHPE), Garcia will create a painting, which will be displayed at HMC.

“The subject material will depend on the students’ input and feedback, which will generate a one-of-a-kind art piece specifically related to HMC’s Latino student population,” said Assistant Dean for Institutional Diversity Angelica Ibarra, who will facilitate the project.

As a first generation Mexican-American in Los Angeles, Garcia draws upon the social subject matter of Jose Guadalupe Posada and David Alfaro Siqueiros to reflect a modernized concept of social surrealism. His work has gradually transformed from reflecting injustice through the popular culture of Dia de los Muertos to a contemporary “social realism and surrealism,” referencing institutional injustice of minorities.

Garcia teaches art at Maya Angelou Community High School in his hometown of South Central (South Los Angeles) and is currently pursuing a doctorate at Claremont Graduate University’s School of Educational Studies. He teaches through public, art-based methods of civic engagement and critical pedagogy, and aims to challenge and change the educational limitations of urban students through the use of public art and civic engagement.