The Califas Legacy Project online exhibition, offered by the Santa Cruz Art League (SCAL) and Museo Eduardo Carrillo, tells an untold story of Chicano/a/x artists living in the Central California Coastal region. This exhibition includes artworks by Guillermo (Yermo) Aranda, Ralph D’Oliveira, Carmen León, and Amalia Mesa-Bains. We expand the geographic art historical narratives about Latino artists in the United States that are primarily centered in large, urban environments such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.
The Califas Legacy Project has unified the Monterey Bay Crescent through public retrospective and multi-generational exhibitions, zoomed in opportunities, streetside art viewing, portable murals, documentary videos, panel discussions, and a Latinx-based symposium. In 1982, Professor Eduardo Carrillo conceived of the “Califas: Chicano Art and Culture in California” conference to bring together artists, scholars, and creative social instigators to take stock of La Raza y El Movimiendo after several decades of political awakening and action. Together with Philip Brookman, Tomas Ybarra Frausto, and Juventino Esparza, he assembled a remarkable group for a multi-day symposium. They argued and agreed that the Chicano movement in all its variety and manifestations was very much alive and needed continued nurturance.
Now, almost forty years later, the Califas Legacy Project features the art and ideas of our region’s Chicano/a/x and Latinx creative leaders, the elders in the movement.
Our commitment is to secure the preservation of these artists’ legacies and awaken a new generation to the richness of the Monterey Bay Crescent artists contributions. Theirs is an un-contained influence – linking the powerful social movements of the 1960s to the next generation of Latinx and other artists. The exhibition surveys work from over four decades per artist, thereby sharing their artistic evolution and making visible what has been here all along.
The Califas Legacy Project fills a vacant part of American art history.
Guillermo (Yermo) Aranda is an elder and wisdom keeper of the history and ancestral teachings for Chicano/Native/Mexica identified peoples. He was the co-founder of El Centro Cultural de La Raza, a cultural art center focusing on Latino and Indigenous Art forms. As the Centro’s first Administrative Director, Aranda initiated the Chicano Park Murals in San Diego in 1973. Chicano Park is now recognized by the City of San Diego and the State of California as an historical site.
Guillermo ArandaLa Dualidad/Mural, acrylics, 16 ft x 40 ft", 1970
Guillermo ArandaDance to Quetzalcoatl, intaglio print, 10" x 8", 1986
Guillermo ArandaCalling the Dancers, intaglio print, 9" x 8.5", 1988
Guillermo ArandaStar Dancer, intaglio print, 14" x 8", 1988
Guillermo ArandaThe Guardian, acrylics, 36" x 24", 1986
Guillermo ArandaResurrection of a Dancer, monotype, 24.5" x 16", 1989
Guillermo ArandaSource of Life/Mural, acrylics, 12 ft x 14 ft, 1994
Guillermo ArandaPopoxcomitl, acrylics, 72" x 38", 1996
Guillermo ArandaDance of Balance, watercolor, 12" x 10", 2000
Guillermo ArandaWalking with Sage, intaglio print, 18.5" x 11.5", 2005
Guillermo ArandaEagle Vision, watercolor, 8" x 15", 2009
Guillermo ArandaEx'celen Alpapisi/Mural, acrylic, 6 ft x 20 ft, 2010
Guillermo ArandaHistorical Mural/Chicano Park, acrylic, 14 ft x 70 ft, 2012
Guillermo ArandaEye Scape, pencil, 9" x 12", 2013
Guillermo ArandaThose That Have Passed, acrylics, 18" x 24", 2014
Guillermo ArandaThe Transition, acrylics, 30" x 24", 2016
Guillermo ArandaCrow, pencil, 11" x 9", 2020
Guillermo ArandaJaguar Drum, acrylics on drumhead, 14" x 14", 2020
Guillermo ArandaMother and Child/Mural Detail, acrylics, 12 ft x 12 ft, 2020
Guillermo Aranda: Society’s Light/Mural, acrylics, 12 ft x 76 ft, 2021
Ralph D’Oliveira
Ralph D’Oliveira has painted more than 100 murals in California and abroad during his 40+ year career as a muralist. He has done dozens of projects with schools and school children. In 2013, he traveled to Norway to do a mural project in Trondheim. He coordinates his projects collaboratively with neighbors and students in schools. He views all these projects as a way to build community. Ralph draws on his multicultural background incorporating native Chumash and Mexican roots.
Ralph James D'OliveiraWatsonville Landscape, acrylics, 8ft x 12ft, 1979
Ralph James D'OliveiraAztec Calendar Hollister Drive-In Market, acrylics, 8ft x 20ft, 1983
Ralph James D'OliveiraSunflower Mural, acrylics, 8ft x 20ft, 1993
Ralph James D'OliveiraMaternal Tree, acrylics, 20ft x 12ft, 1999
Ralph James D'OliveiraChumash Maritime Association Poster, acrylics, 30" x 24", 2005
Ralph James D'OliveiraFlower Girls, acrylics, 48 x 36", 2009
Ralph James D'OliveiraChumash Tomol, acrylics, 18" 2013
Ralph James D'OliveiraEl Rancho El Charquito restaurant, acrylics, 36" x 48", 2014
Ralph James D'OliveiraNavigation Techniques of ancient cultures(Trondheim, Norway, acrylics, 8ft x 16ft, 2015
Ralph James D'OliveiraChildren of the corn, acrylics, 24" x 36", 2016
Ralph James D'Oliveira Bald eagle, acrylics, 24" x 18", 2017
Ralph James D'OliveiraLandbreaker, acrylics, 60" x 48", 2017
Ralph James D'OliveiraFrida gliding down the river, acrylics, 20" x 16", 2017
Ralph James D'OliveiraMadonna of the river, acrylics, 36" x 60", 2019
Ralph James D'OliveiraHuitzlipotzli, acrylics, 36" x 48", 2019
Ralph James D'OliveiraRio Vista Middle School Mural El Rio, California, acrylics, 12ft x 30ft, 2019
Ralph James D'OliveiraMestizo, acrylics, 36" x 60", 2020
Ralph James D'OliveiraNew Bogeyman , acrylics, 36" x 48", 2020
Ralph James D'OliveiraRed White blue, acrylics, 36" x 48", 2020
Ralph James D'OliveiraWelcome to Amerika, acrylics, 36" x 60", 2020
Carmen León
Carmen León is a painter and teacher of art. In 1975-76, she was involved with a grassroots arts center, the Academia del Arte Chicano de Azlan, painting some of the first murals in Watsonville. In 1985, she began teaching art in the schools, focusing her involvement with the Latino community and drawing on her Peruvian and Mexican heritage. León was one of the co-founders of Galeria Tonantzin in San Juan Bautista, CA, a venue for women’s art.
Carmen LeónMother We Dream, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 1986
Carmen LeónThe Chair Maker, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 1987
Carmen LeónTonantzin, acrylic painting, 34" x 28", 1987
Carmen LeónBreathe Me, acrylic painting, 34" x 28", 1989
Carmen LeónAbro Mis Alas, acrylic painting, 40" x 30", 1992
Carmen LeónHave You Ever Thought of the Buddha, acrylic painting, 34" x 28", 1993
Carmen LeónWhite Buffalo Woman, acrylic painting, 36" x 24", 1995
Carmen LeónCempasuchils Portal, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 1997
Carmen LeónSueño del Colibri, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 1998
Carmen LeónCalavera y su Novia, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 2001
Carmen LeónSueño, acrylic painting, 31" x 24", 2002
Carmen LeónCactus Woman, acrylic painting, 27" x 34", 2003
Carmen LeónTeatro de los Espiritus, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 2004
Carmen LeónLa Boda, acrylic painting, 40" x 30", 2010
Carmen LeónSpirit Guide, acrylic painting, 30" x 38", 2011
Carmen LeónGrand Mother Spirit, acrylic painting, 31" x 25", 2015
Carmen LeónSpirit Bear, acrylic painting, 30" x 26", 2016
Carmen LeónThe Question, acrylic painting, 37" x 29", 2017
Carmen LeónThe Portal, acrylic painting, 36" x 28", 2018
Carmen LeónMy Letter to Lise, acrylic painting, 36" x 24", 2020
Amalia Mesa-Bains
Amalia Mesa-Bains is a curator, author, visual artist, and educator. In her home altars, ofrendas, and writing, she examines the formation of Chicana identity and aesthetic practices, the shared experiences of historically-marginalized communities in the United States, especially among women of color, and the role of multiculturalism within museums and cultural institutions. Her work is in collections worldwide and in 1992 she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship.
Amalia Mesa-BainsSor Juana Inez de la Cruz's Library (overview), installation, 11" x 7, 1994
Amalia Mesa-BainsSor Juana Inez de la Cruz's Library (detail), installation, 11" x 7, 1994
Amalia Mesa-BainsMother Nature/view from the front, installation, 5.76" x 8.64, 1997
Amalia Mesa-BainsMother Nature/ back view, installation, 14.4" x 21.6, 1997
Amalia Mesa-Bains , installation, 1997
Private Landscapes/Public Territories, installation, 21" x 14, 2011
Amalia Mesa-BainsBotanical Prints with Book, mixed media, 21" x 14", 2011
Amalia Mesa-BainsCurandera's Botanical, installation, 11" x 10.3, 2011
Amalia Mesa-BainsNew World Wunderkammer, installation, 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsNew World Wunderkammer (main installation piece), installation, 2013
Amalia Mesa-Bains The Wunderkammer Collection: Nuestros Antepasados (Our Ancestors), print, 26" x 32", 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsThe Wunderkammer Collection: Battle of the Gods for Tenochtitlan, print, 26" x 32", 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsWunderkammer Collection: Journey to Mictlan, print, 26" x 32", 201
Amalia Mesa-BainsThe Wunderkammer Collection: Map of Loss, print, 26" x 32", 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsThe Wunderkammer Collection: Power, Authority and Truth, print, 32" x 26", 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsThe Wunderkammer Collection: Women’s Yoruba World of the Divine, print, 32" x 26", 2013
Amalia Mesa-BainsThe Wunderkammer Collection: Women’s Ceremony of Passage, print, 26" x 32, 2013