Latinx Heritage Month

Ire'ne Lara Silva

Rebecca Flores

In 1975, Rebecca Flores established a large membership among the Rio Grande Valley farm workers at the United Farm Workers' offices in San Juan, Texas. With these organized farm workers, Rebecca and her committed staff provided social services where there were none; she advocated for change in state services that did not consider the unique needs of farm workers, their migrancy, their poverty, and their language.  

经过著名领导人塞萨尔·查韦斯和弗雷德·罗斯的训练, she and farm workers organized dozens of committees in the colonias of the Rio Grande valley that then fought to raise wages and working conditions in the fields; elected politicians that would introduce and fight for good farmworker legislation; and who would fund projects that would upgrade the living conditions of colonia residents, through developing an infrastructure of streets, sewage systems, street names, electricity, water, etc.

From 1983 to 1988, she helped pass legislation for workers' compensation for injured farm workers and unemployment compensation, raised the Texas minimum wage, prohibited the use of the short-handled hoe, provided for toilets and potable drinking water in the fields, and passed protective Pesticide Right to Know legislation.  

她领导了德克萨斯州洋葱田的年度运动，以提高计件工资. She also organized mushroom pickers in Florida and strawberry and grape pickers in California, which resulted in union contracts.    

丽贝卡曾担任全国劳联-产联的州主任三年. In December 2005, she retired from her union job.  

自2014年以来，她一直关注难民母亲和儿童的情况 being detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas. This detention is based on the determination by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they pose a national security risk. After Governor Abbot signed Senate Bill 4, with the help of two other women in San Antonio, she formed the Pro Immigrant Coalition in San Antonio, a grassroots organization with 300 members that supports advocates for policy changes for undocumented immigrants. In the last year, she has become involved with her neighborhood residents who are feeling the effects of gentrification.  

Along the way, she raised three intelligent children committed to justice in their work.

Joseph M. Fonseca Jr. is a Political Science (Govt.) Instructor at Palo Alto College.

Manuel Garza

Manuel Diaz Garza is a lifelong San Antonio and Texas resident, as his family dates back to 1540. Garza is a community organizer in San Antonio. His involvement in creating positive change began at age five by helping his Mom get signatures on a petition to ask for running water in their neighborhood. At the time, 在圣安东尼奥西区的许多地方，人们用木桶送水, including Edgewood. 

Garza's mark in history starts with his participation and involvement in the 1968 Edgewood High School student walkout and fight for equitable public education funding in Texas and the country. Manuel walked out in 1968 in response to education inequities. 加尔扎也在1921年的圣安东尼奥洪水中失去了多位家人, a sign that generations of his lineage have been entrenched in the disinvestment of the Westside. 

Garza, along with others, have continued their work for equity. Garza first worked through the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) and La Raza Unida Party and served as Central Texas organizer, ran for Hays County Commissioner Pct. 2 in 1972, and served as Raza Unida Party Bexar County Chair. Garza is also part of the community-led effort for the City of San Antonio's 1970s move to elect the San Antonio City Council by single-member districts. 这一变化是在1975年的《澳门正规博彩十大排行平台》之后发生的.S. Justice Department found the city's previous annexations disenfranchised minorities. 尽管当地出现了抵制和挑战这一决定的斗争, 圣安东尼奥市民于1977年1月批准了单一选区. 

曼努埃尔担任澳门正规博彩十大排行平台区西区教育主席 & Training Center (WETC) Advisory Board. Previously, Garza served on the Edgewood ISD Board of Trustees. Garza was instrumental in developing a 2-and-a-half-year-long progress to establish WETC. 
Manuel works with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project as a Senior Advisor to improve opportunities for Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Chicanos, Latinos, Blacks, Asian American Pacific Islanders, 以及其他有色人种和社区参与选民登记和教育. Manuel is a Graduate of the Development Training Institute National Internship in Community Economic Development with Accreditation from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, with 30 toward his Masters in Community Economic Development. 

Patssi Valdez

Patssi Valdez, born and raised in East Los Angeles, 是一位视觉艺术家，也是艺术团体ASCO的创始成员. As the only female member of Asco, Valdez’s wide artistic range–which includes performance art, conceptual art, installations, murals, fashion design, collage, photography, easel painting, and set design–was crucial to the group’s role in expanding the definition of Chicana/o art into alternate creative realms that went beyond traditional media such as murals and posters. Asco’s artistic practice was performative and conceptual, taking on various forms, such as staged events and street performances. Her artistic contributions in ASCO challenged the dominant narrative of the Chicano Movement and Chicano Art to provide an expanded and contemporary vision of Chicana/o identity.

Valdez received her BFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and was named outstanding alumni in 1985. In her visual art practice, Valdez works to capture her internal world and spaces she both inhabits and re-imagines. Since the late 1980s, 瓦尔迪兹继续创作了她最知名的一些作品, a body of images that are Neo-Expressionistic and Surrealistic in form and content and are both autobiographical while also pushing back on traditional depictions of American domesticity and Chicanismo. Her work has contributed to an ongoing Chicana feminist critique and examination of the sociopolitical reality of the Chicana/o community living in the United States.

Valdez has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions such as Les Démons Des Anges, Halle du Centre de Recherche pour le Développement Culturel, Nantes, France, 1989; A Precarious Comfort, The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA, 1999; ASCO No Movies, (Touring Exhibition 2013-2014) Nottingham Contemporary, UK, 2013; Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2017; and L.A. 备忘录芝加哥/艺术1972-1989，La Plaza de Cultura & Artes，洛杉矶，2022.

Her work is highlighted in the newly inaugurated Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, 2022. Her artwork is in major collections, including the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Valdez continues making art in her studio in Los Angeles. 

Shelley Lares

Nicknamed "Little Miss Dynamite" for her many talents, Shelly Lares has been one of the most enduring artists in the Tejano music scene for over 40 years and a member of the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame. She has a large, devoted following due to her powerful singing voice and charismatic stage presence. She is a Tejano Music Icon, musician, songwriter, producer, guitarist, percussionist, business owner, and activist. 她曾被提名并赢得了特哈诺音乐奖的多个奖项, Pura Vida Awards, Cyber Awards, My Tejano Awards, Grammys, Latin Grammys, and many more.

Lares在10岁时与the Hot Tamales Band合作录制了她的第一张唱片, which was when she was introduced to Tejano Music. Lares stayed with them for four years, recording five 45 records before branching out independently and signing with Manny Guerra at 17. She recorded for Manny Music between 1989 and 1995. Her fifth album, "Quiero Ser Tu Amante,是一个突破，并进入了拉丁专辑排行榜的前40名. Her biggest hit, "Soy Tu Amor," which she co-wrote with JJ Reyes, was the most Latin-played song of 1994. After leaving Manny, she signed to Sony Discos, 1996年，她的同名专辑《澳门正规博彩十大排行平台》在拉丁专辑排行榜上名列第35位, 同年，他们的单曲《澳门正规博彩十大排行平台》获得了BMI的认可. It reached number 18 on the Regional Mexican charts. It allowed her to record half of the album in Nashville alongside country superstar Vince Gill, who was featured on guitar and vocals. It solidified her as a cross-over country music artist, and she performed several shows with major country artists.

 
In 2012, she started her record label, Shellshock Records 3, which allowed her complete control of recordings, manufacturing, distribution, and sales. "Renacer" in 2012 was the first off her label and did well on the digital charts and continued to rack up sales years after the initial release. Her 2015 album "De Mi Corazon" was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the best Tejano Album category. Her 2019 album "Obra De Amor" earned success in sales and won Single Of The Year for "Devuelveme El Corazon" at the Tejano Music Awards. 

She has collaborated with artists such as Little Joe, Ruben Ramos, Jay Perez, Elida Reyna, Ram Herrera, David Mares, and many others. This earned her another nickname, "Queen of Collabs," with over 30 collaborations in her career, the most of any Tejano artist. One of her most successful collaborations has been with Elida Reyna and Stefani Montiel as Las Tres Divas. They toured the United States, Japan, Guam, and Korea. They received a Grammy Nomination for Best Mexican American Album and a Latin Grammy nomination for their album "Las Tres Divas."

She has since received several lifetime achievement awards, most recently the Human Rights Campaign Legacy Award, for her work and representation in her community. 

Celebrating 40 years in the industry in 2022, Shelly decided to retire from the road and, as an artist, to work on her label ShellShock Records 3. She signed her first exclusive artist, El Gallo Dez, in April of 2023, opened her recording studio, and is following her love for hospice through music therapy. Shelly was named the first-ever artist-in-residence at the University of Texas San Antonio and will begin teaching in late October 2023. She will be featured on the series "Leguizamo Does America" with John Leguizamo in 2025, highlighting her career. 她一直是新艺术家的开拓者和倡导者. 

"Jimmy" James Canales

吉米·詹姆斯·卡纳莱斯是德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市的雕塑家和行为艺术家. His work explores his Mexican-American / Tejano identity through imaginative installations and proxy performance sculptures.

Canales received his BFA from the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Locally, he has exhibited work at Artpace, Sala Diaz, Presa House, The Contemporary at Blue Star, and the McNay Art Museum. At the national level, 他的作品曾在芝加哥德保罗大学艺术博物馆展出, IL, 拉丁美洲艺术与文化运动（MACLA）在圣何塞, CA, and the Great Jones Gallery in Seattle, WA.

Canales is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, most notably the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Award for Artists from the Dallas Museum of Art (2015), the Tanne Foundation Award (2016), “柏林蓝星当代艺术家”驻场项目，位于德国贝塔尼恩k nstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE（2019）和艺术系2024年个人艺术家资助 & Culture in San Antonio, TX. 他在德克萨斯州圣马科斯的德克萨斯州立大学担任工作室艺术讲师.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Growing up in San Antonio, the iconic San Antonio Missions have loomed large in my imagination since I was young, and I have been shaped by the stories surrounding them. 这些联合国教科文组织遗产是独特的，是城市身份的基础. However, their stories are also complex and tangled in the history of Spanish Colonialism. I want to ask the question: In what ways can we expand our relationship with the missions? What would happen if the Missions came to life?

This project imagines the Missions coming to life. I affectionately call this project Mission Bots. 我创造了一个雕塑装置，在画面之间移动, altar, and tabletop role-playing games. The intricately constructed figurines, which are the same scale as 1980s Transformers toys, will navigate a giant human gameboard. Individually outfitted and expressing different attributes, superpowers, or shortcomings, these figures will tell a story of fantasy, play, and transformation.

Juan Tejeda

Juan Tejeda retired in 2016 as a Mexican American Studies and Music professor at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. A writer, musician, educator, ex-Jefe Segundo of Xinachtli (the first traditional Mexica-Azteca Conchero dance group in Texas), arts administrator, and activist, from 1980 to 1998, he was the Xicano Music Program Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center where, among his many duties, 他在圣安东尼奥创立并指导了一年一度的Tejano Conjunto节. He is the button accordionist for the Conjunto Aztlan, and he and his wife, Anisa Onofre, are the publishers of Aztlan Libre Press, a small, independent publishing company based in Yanawana that is dedicated to the publishing, promotion, and free expression of Indigenous/Xicanx literature and art.