Artist Spotlight
Self Help Graphics & Art

By Tyler Noland, SOU ’21

Founded during the height of the Chicano Civil Rights movement in the 1970s, Self Help Graphics & Art has been a pillar of the East Los Angeles artistic community for almost fifty years. Self Help Graphics & Art was originally started by artists Carlos Bueno, Antonio Ibanez, Frank Hernandez, and Sister Karen Boccalero. Their goal was to provide more available access to training and facilities for latinx artists to develop their talents and get involved in the arts. Since that time, SHGA has brought art opportunities to the greater East Los Angeles latinx community, and sponsored the careers of hundreds of artists. A powerhouse of printmaking, SHGA aims to advance and encourage young latinx artists by giving them the training and opportunities they would not otherwise have access to. 

A selection of prints from Self Help Graphics & Art are featured in the Fall Exhibitions. These works from a variety of artists express personal perspectives surrounding latinx identity in the face of current and past turbulent periods. The artists of SHGA are encouraged to make art exploring their Chicano heritage as well as their present realties. The works on display illustrate this range of personal styles. They are a group of diverse and engaging prints that all have something unique to express, but still have an underlying thread connecting them. Included in these prints are works from revolutionary “Los Four” members, Judithe Hernandez and Frank Romero, who paved the way for Chicano art in the 1970s.

The subject matter of these prints range from Los Angeles freeways, to the human heart. Each work pulls the viewer into an intimate conversation about human vulnerability, our pasts, presents, and each person’s personal relationship with familiarity. On display in the Schneider’s Treehaven Gallery, the works from Self Help Graphics & Art complement and challenge the other exhibitions on display this fall.     

Prints from Self Help Graphics & Art will be on display in the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, OR from October 24th to December 14th.

 

Tyler Noland is a junior Creative Writing major at Southern Oregon University. She is originally from the Bay Area, and this is her second year at the Schneider Museum of Art. While not working on her writing she enjoys thrifting for her newest funky outfit.