Tracing a history: an exploration of contemporary Chicano art and artists

Unrestricted Almost thirty years have passed since the Chicano Movement in the American Southwest first began using art as a way to help change life for Chicanos and new generation of artists exist that are creating a variety of new art. These younger artists may be technically considered "Chicano artists" but there is ambivalence among many as to whether they are part of this singularly unifying label.; By talking to younger artists, older artists and those within art institutions like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), it becomes possible to see the way those in the arts community are attempting to understand contemporary Chicano art. There is also an important history ingrained in the art that came to fruition during the 1960s and 1970s Chicano Movement. By analyzing art from this period, one is able to more fully see the way contemporary artists may or may not relate to the themes of the era.; One's own art and creative expression is something so entirely personal that there may not be any singular answer to the question of whether contemporary Chicano/a artists align themselves with their cultural predecessors from 30 years earlier. Still, it is valuable to speak to those connected to the issue to see what understanding can be reached on such a complicated topic that intertwines race, labor struggles, politics, gender, socioeconomic disparities and so much more.