Creative Resistance: Art Meets Activism in East Austin by Amy Truong

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Photographs, poetry, and book design by Amy Truong at St. Edward's University. Graphic Design III, Fall 2018.

INTERVIEWS: Prizer Arts & Letters: Carrie Kenny Resistencia Bookstore: Lilia Rosas Arte Texas: Bertha Delgado

ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS: Riojas, Yocelyn. Jolt Texasâ&#x2C6;&#x2019;Migration is Sweet. Arte Texas. Artist in Front of the La Loteria Mural.

ART IS POWER. Dedicated to the people of East Austin who continue to fight to keep their homes, businesses, identity, culture, and freedom.

NEVER STOP FIGHTING.

The Role of Art Galleries in the Neighborhood

Their Story: Prizer Arts & Letters Prizer Arts & Letters isn’t your typical art gallery. They are socially engaged arts and literature nonproft who are constantly opening up the conversation on social issues to the community through their diverse exhibitions. Opening its doors to East Austin in 2016, Prizer Arts & Letters was extended on the work of Prizer Gallery, founded by Carrie Kenny in 2012. The gallery space was a 1920’s home transformed into this open gallery to bring new and different communities together for meaningful dialogue and creative engagement. The building continues to be home to other arts nonprofits as well, including Forklift Danceworks and Fusebox Festival.

Their mission from the beginning has been “to exhibit socially-engaged art and literature, foster dialogue and pollinate creativity.” Prizer Arts & Letters strives to create a space that is welcoming to people of all ages, abilities, identities and backgrounds, helping create equity and diversity in the arts, and making art and literature free and accessible to the public. They go above and beyond to support artists by giving them a space to showcase and share their work with the community, free of charge.

“Bring different communities together for creativity and meaningful dialogue” Carrie Kenny: “Each show brings in different members of the community. Each artist brings in their own circles, as well as people interested in the themes and ideas they are exploring. Each exhibit is curated to explore and invoke conversation about human rights, social justice and social change, issues of sustainability, climate and the environment. With each exhibit, we include an interactive aspect where the public can reflect on the theme of the show and have an opportunity to contribute to the show. Another socially engaged artist we worked with recently is Drew Riley for her show, “Gender Portraits.” About her work, Drew write, “My series, Gender Portraits, explores the complexity of gender by documenting the experiences and struggles of transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming people. My goal is to introduce the viewer, in an intimate and relatable way, to real people whose existence challenges narrow, binary concepts of gender identity, expression, and bodies.”For this show, we included the written interviews that Drew did with her painting subjects. We printed these interviews in full and put them on the wall with the paintings. Several visitors to the gallery said the stories in the interviews were very moving and made the visual art all the more powerful. We also

hosted an artist talk with Drew, and this was posted online for people who couldn’t attend. For most of our artists, we host artist talks as this gives community members a way to talk with and hear directly from the artist. We also do a show every year called “Farmer as Artist.” For this, we invite people who work in agriculture to submit artwork. It has turned into a great community event, bringing together both farmers and non-farmers. It also gives people who don’t typically show in a gallery a chance to do so and it expands the idea of what belongs on the gallery walls. For the show ROUX, we exhibited the work of Ann Johnson, Rabéa Ballin, Delita Martin and Lovie Olivia, four women printmakers who together examine cultural and societal issues of genealogy, feminism, identity, & other topics affecting women of the African Diaspora. We displayed a series by Delita Martin that included over 200 dinner plates upon which she had drawn portraits of African American women. Seeing all of these portraits together was very powerful. To accompany this, we had an activity that allowed visitors to create portraits of their own on plates and reflect on the question of identity. We also do group shows centered around a theme and striveto include a diverse group of artists. For example, we did a show called, “Care/Giver: In Memory’s Hold for which we askedthirty artists,writers and community members to explore a significant caregiving relationship--or the meaning of care itself. This show included visual art and written pieces, and happened to openright after the election of Trump. For the participatory activity, we asked visitors to write or draw

“We believe in art as an essential conduit for social change & in bringing writers and artists into conversation & in participatory co-creation with people of all ages.” about the following prompts: “How do you want to be cared for? Who cares for you? Who taught you about caring for others? Who do you give care to, and how? Who needs care and isn’t getting it? What is care?” These writings and drawings were displayed on a community wall during the show. We received lots of feedback on how helpful it was to have a space for this kind of expression after such a divisive election. We try to be a space that is free and open to all, but I wish we had more long-term East Austin residents coming to the gallery. This is something that I know we need to work on –it’s not just going to happen on its own. Unfortunately, it is getting more and more expensive to live and operate a business in Central East Austin. My goal is for Prizer to be a space that is truly inclusive and that fosters dialogue and the exchange ofideas in an area of town that is becoming more and more commercialized. I think it is important to still have physical spaces such for people of diverse backgrounds to gather.

push against the tide Get out they said, while you still can because the grass isn't looking any greener on your side. This wave only gets stronger. They said if you push against the tide, they cannot be held responsible for what happens to you. This fear turned into a healthy awareness Revved up my internal fire So I can rise above and outcry alongside my brothers and sisters. I cannot turn my back on my home and let them plant their seeds on my soil. We were here first, the roots of who we are run deep in the veins of East Austin. There's no use in shouting anymore they said, but I say I won't hush.

The Role of Non-Profits in the Neighborhood

Their Story: Jolt Texas Jolt Texas is a Texas-based multi-issue organization that supports Latinos across Texas through their movement to drive change in their communities and mobilize others to action.

“Jolt doesn’t stand for any one party or politician — it stands for the Latino community, families, and parents who worked hard to give their children everything they didn’t have. Jolt supports Latinos to make change by making sure they have a say in how Texas is run.” Jolt is building the capacity of grassroots leaders by bringing together Latino organizations across Texas to create and implement campaigns that tackle the issues the community faces. Their goal is to ensure that the voices of Latinos are being heard and that the major issues impacting Latinos in Texas are being discussed and addressed. Through bringing artists and musicians together to share the stories of Latino families and creating a culture of resistance, Jolt is bringing pride and a sense of belonging to the community.

Their Story: Resistencia Bookstore Lilia Rosas: “Resistencia Bookstore right now is probably the longest running Chican@/Latin@/Latinx/Indigenous bookstore in Central Texas, that is continuously run. It was started in 1981 by Raúl Salinas, who passed away in 2008, he was a poet, a human rights activist, a prisoner, a community leader, a filmmaker, and a professor at St. Edward’s. When he got released from prison, his dream was to create a space that reflected the vibrancy and beauty of the emerging Chican@/Latinx/Indigenous literature.

“his dream was to create a space that reflected the vibrancy and beauty of the emerging Chican@/Latinx/Indigenous literature” It was during the 80s, so it was kind of the tail-end of a lot of the social movements - the Civil Rights movement, the Black Freedom movement, the Women’s Rights movement, the Chican@/Chicanx Power movement. All these different movements at this point were reconfiguring themselves. People were writing and reflecting, but the thing was that you didn’t see that represented in bookstores. Since it was 80s, a bookstore would have been the most logical place to go for this kind of information. People didn’t have access to the Internet like today. So people had to go to a cultural site to read or talk to people to see what they could find out. So he wanted to create a space in that spirit.

Resistencia right now is in its fifth iteration, which means we’ve moved, at least in Austin, five times. One of the ways we’ve survived was moving. Running a bookstore is extremely difficult, it’s not always viable, so there’s creative ways in which you have to think about how to survive. And trying to keep rent low is one of them. In Austin, this is a recurring question everywhere. For cultural arts organizations, this is a really pressing question because the city supports in some ways, but there isn’t any such thing as rent control. We can make some parallels to students: It’s like you want us here, but we don’t have any affordable place to live. Same idea - you want us here, but you don’t give us any affordable place to work. So what are we supposed to do. Red Salmon Arts is what enables us to do all of Resistencia’s programming for free. We’re not confused about that, we want our programming to be free. In order to fully enact and support and create cultural arts that was Chican@/Latin@/Latinx/Indigenouscentered, that maybe a way to do this was to create a nonprofit that cultivates that programming. So Red Salmon Arts is dedicated to that one simple premise−how do we create Chican@/Latin@/Latinx/Indigenous-centered programming that emphasizes cultural arts and literature and literacy. Red Salmon Arts officially became a non-profit in 2001, but had existed prior to that in the 90s. Which allowed us to apply to get funding from the city, and the city actually has a rich cultural arts program that provides grants to arts organizations. This Red Salmon Arts-Resistencia partnership allows us to have the freedom, so at least in this iteration, we don’t have to be a traditional bookstore. With Resistencia, we’re very small, part of it is volunteer-run,

it ebbs and flows, our hours can range from consistent to inconsistent because it depends on the obligations of other people. But at least with Red Salmon Arts, we are able to consistently fulfill our different kinds of programming and make them available−some have been really successful and huge, and some of them have been really intimate and small. Now that Austin is very huge, I have to consider how do we market to people.

“We don’t have to be a traditional bookstore.” When Resistencia first started, it was more of a traditional bookstore, and it was only in the last 5 years that we’ve reconfigured that model. Resistencia started on East 6th Street, which traditionally was a Mexican-American working-class neighborhood. You can see remnants of it now, but not really. Then it was moved to three locations off of South 1st Street. The third location was the most consistently recognized location−when people remember Resistencia, they remember that location. We were also there the longest−we were there from 1999 to 2014. I’m not sure about the reasoning behind the other moves, but the last move was directly because of gentrification. We couldn’t afford to be off of South 1st anymore. I used to live in that neighborhood too, so I know that neighborhood really well. South 1st was a working-class, MexicanAmerican neighborhood. This was in the 90s, and South 1st was known then for its Mexican restaurants, they were just small restaurants−nothing fancy−and auto shops. That was it. But now it’s very different.

“I still really struggle with that, like I question am I doing a good job? Is this fully-represented? Could it be better? Then people remind me that I don’t do this full-time.” After Raúl’s passing in 2008, the caretaker and director of Red Salmon Arts, Rene Valdez, asked me to take over because he needed someone he could count on and trust who was familiar with the inner-workings of the organization. He left in 2013, so I’ve been the director of Red Salmon Arts since then. And all of this that we do is mostly parttime, that’s the other thing that’s really challenging−we’re not a very large organization, so we simply don’t have the kind of funding that people get where this is the only thing they do. This isn’t the kind of work that’s going to end anytime soon. For me, it’s about cultivating the space. I had no plans to become the director, but my friend wanted to move on so he gave my partner and I the choice - ‘you can continue the Resistencia Bookstore and Red Salmon Arts or you can shut it all down.’ That also shows the level of burn-out sometimes people experience. So we really had to think about that. And I still really struggle with that, like I question am I doing a good job? Is this fully-represented? Could it be better? Then people remind me that I don’t do this full-time. But for now, I think it’s good that the space ebbs and flows the way it is, and for the most part, I make my peace with it.

we are not responsible We are not responsible for any damages to your dignity. We reserve the right to paint over your history. The colors are faded. Some fresh white paint won’t hurt anybody. Out with the old, In with the new new new Renovation trumps preservation Let’s not waste resources on things with no value. Community is overrated. We cannot guarantee you a reservation. It’s not first-come, first-serve any more It’s either make some more pocket change or get out. There are no handouts. There’s no room for you here. You can try across town. Maybe they fit your budget. If you cannot keep up, Step aside or you will be pushed out of the way. It’s not our obligation to make space for you. We have no interest in you So move on.

The Role of Street Art in the Neighborhood

Their Story: Arte Texas The legacy of Arte Texas is for artists and muralists to give back to the community they are rooted in and draw inspirations from their works of art. Arte Texas is focused on preserving, restoring, and celebrating the murals of street art and public painting from the heart and soul of East Austin and its historic and indigenous Mexican American Chicano/Latino community.

“Instead of complaining about gentrification, a group of middle-aged graffiti artists have come together to form Arte Texas, a group of talented, civic-minded activists, repairing their world one wall at a time.” Executive Director Bertha Delgado developed Arte Texas when she began to see that murals around East Austin, where she grew up, were being painted over or taken down. She felt that losing these murals was a significant loss to the community and their culture. They not only held a lot of meaning and value to the Latino community in East Austin neighborhoods, but to her as well.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Daughter of a Brown Beret, daughter of a family of advocates and activistsâ&#x20AC;? Bertha Delgado: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In 2011: when I became President of the East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association, sitting on the Parks committee, I learned that there were several murals in my Master Plan were once there when I was growing up - and I always wondered how did they get there? Why are they not there anymore? Why are some of them still there but some are destroyed - and some of them are fading away? So I saw that these murals needed attention and they needed preservation. Those murals were part of our identity. I was really really curious about figuring out how those murals got there, so I started to research who did these murals and when and I started to find these individuals and I grabbed them together and I told them how important these murals were to many of us who live here and have lived here. During this time back in 2015, gentrification was hitting my neighborhood really bad. Left and right, I was trying to save homes, I was trying to save businesses, I was trying to get an exact understanding of what was going on here - and why. Then in 2016, one of the murals that meant so much to us and had been up for more than two decades, the La Loteria mural, was painted over on East Cesar Chavez for a South by Southwest art project. Because I

served as president of a neighborhood association, was a member of a Neighborhood Plan Contact Team, and served on the board of Community Development Commission (CDC) for the City of Austin, I was able to outcry, get my neighborhood together and unite and outcry for the mural to be put back. And that became the launching point of why I became an art organizer. Because of the disrespect, and the fact that our mural had been stripped from us. And it was happening during the exact time I was researching what happened to all of our murals in the neighborhood, so it was great timing - I was able to get it saved, I was able to bring back the local original artist and even integrate other artists to redevelop the mural to what it is today.

“I believe that made people realize that there’s still a voice in East Austin. People still care about their culture, art and homes. When murals like these are lost, it’s heartbreaking.” For the 20 to 30 years they were doing art in the street, these artists never actually got recognized, they never got compensated. Especially as minorities, I felt like we were receiving the end of the stick, and I wanted to know how could we be put on the map? How could artists be compensated and actually recognized for their work? So I organized a cultural barrio art exhibit in 2016, “La Lucha Sigue” (“The Struggle Continues”), that featured 30 paintings from 12 artists, where they could express who they were and what their statement was.

Serving as a Park Committee president, I had allocated 2% of the Holly Shores Master Plan’s budget to the Art in Public Places program. The “For la Raza” project was my first commissioned piece through the City of Austin. We brought back the original artists, Robert Herrera and Oscar Cortez, who had painted the mural 26 years ago in 1992, to restore the mural that meant the world to our neighborhood. Throughout the decades we saw the mural get distorted and we wanted that mural to bring the community back together. The "For la Raza" mural stands for who we are and how the knowledge about our culture is so vital, especially as we are being raised in our community - that we keep it vibrant and alive so we can show our children decades later that we were part of a masterpiece.

“It's not about how much money you make, it's not about who did what and who didn't do what, it's about preserving our culture.” Throughout the last three years, art shows and street murals have been my main focus and it's been very important for our people to know that we have a place somewhere. That's why I keep doing it - to bring murals back to street and to bring people together. We brought congressmen, the mayor, elected officials to our event, we brought artists, and even children - where the artists teach the children how to participate in a masterpiece.

“preservation lasts a lifetime−it will always be there for generations to come and that's my main goal right now in East Austin: preservation because we're being stripped away, little by little, piece by piece” I want to make sure the people I grew up with, the people I saw, would be recognized and appreciated for their work. I've done 4 murals and the artists involved all received recognition and compensation. It's not about how much money you make, it's not about who did what and who didn't do what, it's about preserving our culture. When you preserve your culture and you preserve art−preservation lasts a lifetime - it will always be there for generations to come and that's my main goal right now in East Austin: preservation because we're being stripped away, little by little, piece by piece. And making sure our artists feel like they're someone and that they're part of something and don't have to feel ashamed about what they want to express. I see people just giving up. Not picking up the paintbrush again, not picking up the canvas again, not picking up the spray can again. Why? Because nobody cares. Well we care, I care, let's make something happen.

every person counts All we have is each other. we have been pushed down too many times but we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fallen. we refuse to. We keep holding onto our dreams onto the hope to one day, embrace the entirety of our true selves loud and proud, in the faces of the disdain. I grab your hand, you grab mine we empower each other with strength and glory, undying forces, entitled to a place in the world.