This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Mission’s own Galería de la Raza located at the corner of 24th and Bryant Streets. Sandwiched in between summer and fall, the Galería declared Sept. 24 through Nov. 21 its “anniversary season.” This celebratory season is peppered with public events and concerts, commemorative exhibits, series of lectures and forums with Latino artists in a variety of fields ranging from literature, to digital and visual arts, and even the release of the gallery’s 40th Anniversary print portfolio. Their custom portfolio includes works by internationally recognized artists such as Rupert Garcia, Enrique Chagoya, Julio Cesar Morales, Ana Teresa Fernandez and Shizu Saldamando.
The Galería was born from a legacy of art activism that began in Latin America and has continued to play a key role in the development of Chicano arts and culture in San Francisco. “This place started because Latino artists didn’t have a place to exhibit their work,” said Carolina Ponce de León, executive director of La Galería for the past 12 years. “It was by Latino artists for Latino artists. It wasn’t even on the radar for the mainstream.” Before the western art world caught Frida-fever, for example, the Galería was hosting exhibits featuring and honoring Frida Kahlo as far back as 1978, and then again in 1987. “Those two Frida exhibitions put Frida on the map here,” said Ponce de León. Two years ago San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art even dedicated a portion of their Frida Kahlo exhibit to the Galería, acknowledging the salient role that it played in San Francisco, bringing recognition and respect to the works of Latino artists.
The Galería’s 40th anniversary exhibit offers a combination of contemporary works alongside some of the major highlights of the gallery’s history. Featured photography works range from vibrant and sardonic portraits of the contemporary “chola” to emotive portraits of lowrider culture from the 1980’s. Over the years the Galería has given equal attention to both artists who are academically trained and those who are self-taught. “From street art to fine art, the Galería has never worried about barriers between low or high art,” said Ponce de León. To illustrate her point Ponce de León described the rich iconography of prison art, which incorporates religious and Aztec symbols within modern political and social contexts. La Galería has broken the boundaries of what was once deemed “art” by celebrating Latino artistic expression without reservations. “Whatever brings a richness,” said Ponce de León.
It was the Galería’s founders, Rene Yañez and Ralph Maradiaga, back in the 1970’s which began the Mission’s Dia de los Muertos procession now celebrated by thousands every year. “In 1972 Ralph Maradiaga and Rene Yañez went down to Mexico and observed the celebration of Dia de los Muertos as it is in a community ritual, traditionally celebrated,” explained Ponce de León. “They began inviting artists [to San Francisco] to create inspired altars, already breaking away from the tradition. They began expanding altar creation as an art form within itself, expanding the format and creating a contemporary Chicano art form.” While the Galería is no longer involved in the production of the annual Dia de los Muertos procession, the procession still passes right outside the Galería, harkening to its historical roots.
The Galería has not only pioneered the recognition of Latino and Chicano art but it has also long been a mecca for artists promoting a dialogue of tolerance and social justice. In 1995 the Galería became the first Latino art gallery in the country to host a queer Latino exhibit. It did not shy away from showcasing controversial artistic expression even when the gallery’s public mural was vandalized in 1997 and then again in 2000. “The Galería has always been a safe haven for people to explore and represent alternative lifestyles, a sanctuary for people to deal with issues that may not be accepted outside the community — to generate dialogue,” said Ponce de León. “Latino families can have a place to discuss things that might be more difficult for them. It creates a space for tolerance.”
Such an ideology permeates the work of Chicana artist Melanie Cervantes, who contributed a serigraph poster to the gallery’s anniversary exhibit. “It was a poster that was created after Oscar Grant, a young black man, was murder by white BART police officer Johannes Mehserle,” Cervantes said, describing her piece. “The intention was to draw connections between the way this state-funded police officer and the Israeli Defense Forces are government-funded and yet target and terrorize marginalized communities in Oakland and Gaza. I believe I can help translate the struggles, dreams and vision of indigenous [communities] and communities of color, poor and marginalized people into beautiful graphic work that is accessible to those people who inspire the work.”
With its range of community and youth education programs, the Galería has gone beyond the role of a historic art gallery and has in fact created a community of local artists and educators. The Galería has fostered a multi-tiered mentorship infrastructure for developing artists in the community, even helping students acquire scholarships to art programs. Generations of Galería artists that have built substantial careers return to mentor the new generation. Ponce de León noted how this is community aspect differentiates the Galería from the other art galleries that she has worked at in New York City and in her native Colombia. “The Galería belongs to many, many different people, people that have passed through these walls and remained connected to them. Here there is always a return,” she said.
This lineage has contributed to the rise of the Mission’s next generation of artists, such as Ana Fernandez, who contributed a painting to the Galería’s anniversary exhibit. “Galería was the first space in San Francisco that exhibited my work. They gave me my first taste of truly believing I was an artist, or could really be one,” said Fernandez. “I have had the honor of meeting some of my heroes and working/collaborating with these incredible artists due to the community feel the Galería provides. It is different in the sense that it feels like home. There’s a familiarity that makes me see and transform the space with no limitations.”
But even with the leaps and bounds that organizations like the Galería have made in furthering Chicano/Latino art, spaces like the Galería have not lost their crucial relevance. “I am not afforded the same opportunities that my peers of similar experience are,” Cervantes said of her struggle to achieve equal treatment in the art world. “How many National Raza/Latina Museums do we have? Once we have a plethora that exists then maybe the question about the Galería’s importance will be less relevant. But that is not the case right now. Now it is a vital space for artists in the Raza community,” said Cervantes.
Ponce de León said that especially with the current state of the nation’s politics and the flaring up of anti-immigration sentiment, the Galería plays a crucial role by giving a voice to a community that has often been demonized. “Artists speak to issues that affect their community, global issues that need speaking to — immigration, labor rights, the environment, homophobia. A new generation of artists is still maintaining a certain legacy of Chicano protest art, speaking out for the community on issues that are important to us,” she said.
Fernandez fervently agreed that the Galería is still relevant, even vital to both the contemporary art world and to the community of the Mission. “It is one the most important, palpable meccas for Latinos in the art world today,” said Fernandez. “And it is one of the most decadent living/breathing story tellers for Chicano art history.”
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