WALKING THE CITY VIA COLOR: Mapping the Stories of the People through the Beauty and Power of Street Art

Speaker: Laila Guadalupe Espinoza

What are some of the ways that street art makes me feel that I belong in the city I live in?

This talk looks at the geo-political landscape of two cities through the critical lens of public art: the border city Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico where the speaker grew up and Oakland, CA, where the speaker (and perhaps the student audience) live together. By focusing on how local artists utilize images, words, color, lines and shapes to to express themselves creatively about what it means to live in their city, they are simultaneously speaking out in public about social justice issues that affect them and their community and proclaiming “I AM HERE/WE ARE HERE!” Together, we will engage with specific visual imagery that exemplifies street art in action and analyze details by utilizing artistic vocabulary to assist in transforming personal reflection into dialogue in response to these art forms.  

Crucial and current topics that impact everyday life such as Black Lives Matter in Oakland (and other cities in the U.S) and gender-based violence in Ciudad Juarez at the US/Mexico border are made visible in the streets through diverse styles of street art that reflect the voices of the people. Individual artists and artists' collectives forge community kinship through memorial murals and other expressions of public art that act as public outcry and the insistence on remembering lost lives of loved ones. Art making among local communities has assisted in the healing of affected communities and artists have functioned as "truth-tellers". This talk will explore public works as tools for justice and hope in the Black Lives Matter Movement and the NI UNA MAS! (NOT ONE MORE!) Movement, among others, and will inform students' understanding of the power of art when mobilized with intention and determination. 

About the Speaker

Laila Espinoza grew up in Ciudad Juárez on the US/Mexico Border and has lived in Oakland, her second home, for the past twenty years. Her love and belief in the power of art began at an early age when she started her artistic practice as a way to process and heal family separation due to migrating to the US and the crisis of gender-based violence in Ciudad Juárez, which has become the central subject of her research. She attended the California College of the Arts, graduating with a BFA in Community Arts with a focus on performance, altars and memorial art as her practice and obtained a Master's Degree in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley where she is currently a PhD student.

Suggested Audiences

Age: 6th - 12th grade

Preparation: Each student will need a notecard/flashcard and a marker. Please note: students do not need to write their name on the flashcards in advance.

Courses: Visual Arts classes; Ethnic Studies, Global Studies, Art History, World History, US History, other history-social science courses

Invite Laila Guadalupe Espinoza to Speak