UNM professors create exhibition, first-ever scholarship of local Chicano artists' work

University of New Mexico professors Irene Vásquez Ph.D., and Ray Hernández-Durán Ph.D., have curated an exhibit featuring six New Mexican artists whose work can now be seen at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

A project seven years in the making, Voces Del Pueblo: Artists of the Levantamiento Chicano in New Mexico tells the stories of Ignacio "Nacho" Jaramillo, Juanita J. Lavadie, Francisco LeFebre, Noel Márquez, Roberta Márquez, and Adelita M. Medina, who were among the earliest generation of Chicana and Chicano activists in the state.

Vásquez, chair of the Chicana & Chicano Studies program at UNM and director of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute, said the project was born during the advocacy for their graduate program in 2018. "Our faculty wanted to highlight the vibrant context for the development of Chicana and Chicano Studies and the far-reaching impact of the Chicana and Chicano Movement on education, the arts, politics, and civic advocacy," Vásquez said.

As part of their public education efforts, they prepared for a 50th anniversary commemoration of the founding of Chicana & Chicano Studies. Vásquez had the opportunity to meet activists and artists of the movement to gather ideas and feedback.

LeFebre, a community muralist long known for his monumental murals, proposed the idea of an exhibit of long-standing New Mexican artists. They approached Hernández-Durán in the Art History department about collaborating to create an exhibit illuminating Chicana/o Movement-inspired art.

"I realized so little had been done to focus on Nuevomexicana/o artists," Vásquez said. "The academic research on art demonstrated that the Chicana/o Movement opened new avenues of political advocacy, artistic expression, and collaboration with a national network of artists. Although New Mexican artists had been some of the most prolific, their work and influence have been understudied."

When Hernández-Durán began researching New Mexican Chicano artists from the early 70s generation, he came across the same conclusion-there was nothing written on the topic. This gave him an idea on how to reframe the project.

"We have an opportunity to do something with a long-lasting impact. If we just do a show in a gallery, it will eventually be taken down and forgotten," Hernández-Durán said. "We needed to have a show at a museum, we should have a catalog with scholarly essays, which would be the first scholarship on the subject. That's why it took seven years, because you can't just go online or go to the library. We had to drive out to these artists homes."

Exhibition

The six featured artists were all students of New Mexico Highlands University Professor Pedro Rodriguez, who was the inaugural director of the Chicano Studies program at NMHU. He sent them to Mexico to study art, museums, and ancient sites. The students came back to New Mexico and began creating artwork.

"This upset the university administrators, and Pedro was fired less than two years after he was hired. When he got fired, he almost became a martyr, and it ignited a movement," Hernández-Durán said. "So that became the concept for the show-these three men and three women who were his students in in the early 1970's."

Hernández-Durán said he drove all around New Mexico, from Taos to Artesia, to meet with these artists and see which of their works could be included. He said many of these artists were not used to having their artwork exhibited because of the nature of the topics.

"One of the things I love about the National Hispanic Cultural Center is that they feature artists from our community that other museums would never look at," Hernández-Durán said.

The exhibit includes painting, printmaking, collages, photography, drawings, sculptures and textiles.

Before the completion of the exhibition one of the artists, painter Noel Márquez, passed away. Vásquez and Hernández-Durán agreed to dedicate the show and the catalogue to him. A painting done by Márquez will be one of the first things visitors see at the exhibit, called Nuerstras Raices, translated to Our Roots.

Catalog & Archive

Vasquez and Hernández-Durán went to the city of Albuquerque city council to request a $15,000 grant to pay for a professional photographer to capture the artwork for a catalog. The council ended up giving them $30,000 in support.

"Everyone we talked to was so excited because people understand this has never been done," Hernández-Durán said.

"Our artists from our communities have never really been given a platform like this before."

-Ray Hernández-Durán

Hernández-Durán wrote two essays for the catalog while Vásquez co-authored an essay with one of her Ph.D. students. They also included essays from two guest writers.

UNM Press is printing the catalog which is expected to be released in December.

In addition to the catalog, Hernández-Durán is working with the Center for Soutwest Research in Zimmerman Library to build an archive of newspaper clippings, photographs, and documents gathered pertaining to the movement and its artists over the course of their careers."

"This is what I envisioned. I want to leave something that makes an impression, that begins a conversation and provides resources for future researchers who'll come in after us and continue studying New Mexican artists," Hernández-Durán said.

Events

There will be eight more events hosted in conjunction with the exhibition, including a musical event, gallery tours with artists, and an artmaking workshop. The closing reception for the exhibition is Feb. 8, 2026.