Sin Un Pasado, No Hay Futuro Poem

Built from 1863 to 1869. Taking over six years, the railroad stretched almost 2,000 miles, connecting the Mississippi rivers to the Pacific Coast in San Francisco. Although the transcontinental railroad was one of the biggest things to happen in the railroad industry, there was many other railroads that caused significance. Through the 1850’s and 1860’s alone over 50,000 miles of railroad were built throughout the United States. And with all these railroads being built they were sure to leave impact on many other industries.

Every artist's dream is to create something that leaves a lasting impression. The Last Conquistador follows the story of a sculptor who does exactly that. John Houser spent nearly a decade painstakingly crafted a 34-foot tall equestrian statue featuring the infamous Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate y Salazar. Following in the footsteps of his father who assisted in the carving of Mount Rushmore, Houser's fantasy of leaving his mark in one of the largest bronze equestrian statues in the world finally became a reality (Valadez). However, what an artist attempts to express and what message is truly received may not be one and the same. While the Hispanic elite of El Paso praised (and funded) the magnificent piece, the Acoma were horrified by the towering symbol of oppression and genocide looming overhead. This film not only provides a window into the conflict and controversy surrounding Houser's work, but also showcases several aspects of Texas political culture and highlights the dismissive attitude toward Native American culture that is still prevalent today.

After the Mexican Revolution, which took place from 1910 - 1920, Mexican art saw a change in the type of art being created. Although the focus of creating art with an indigenous and Mexican theme continued, the country saw a shift to art presenting socialist ideals. The government saw value in working with local artist and commissioning them to create murals that would influence their political agendas. However, what these murals mostly did was strengthen the Mexican culture and bring pride to the indigenous heritage. Although this time period has come and gone, its influence over Mexican art and culture is still very apparent today and can even be seen in Mexican American communities today.

Upon entering Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore, I was instantly mesmerized by the vibrantly colored walls that are painted with Aztec inspired architectural designs, patterns, and colors. My first impression of these bold designs instantly gave me the feeling that I had entered a miniature version of an Aztec temple. While I waited for the other members to arrive for the workshop, I explored the numerous shelves that held

Murals are the quintessential public art embodying the spirit of the community in which they are created. They say this is who we are, this is what we think, this is where we come from, and this is what we want, reflecting most clearly any changes in the sociopolitical environment. Murals lay out a powerful visual image of the ideology of their creators or sponsors, be it the Church during the Renaissance, government funded projects, or individuals expressing opposition. In Mexico, after the Mexican Revolution of 1917, the government commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural

“If any act symbolized the taming of the Northwest frontier, it was the driving of the final spike to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.”1 The first railroad west of the Mississippi River was opened on December 23, 1852. Five miles long, the track ran from St. Louis to Cheltanham, Missouri. Twenty-five years prior, there were no railroads in the United States; twenty-five years later, railroads joined the east and west coasts from New York to San Francisco.2

The significance of the transcontinental railroads and the impact they made is quite profound. The first transcontinental line’s construction was chartered by the government in the Pacific Railroad Act. Construction of the line, which ran between Omaha Nebraska to Sacramento California, began in 1863 and it was completed in 1869. By 1900, other transcontinental lines, like the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Great Northern Railway, were in place and connected by numerous feeder lines, junctions, and

     Public art conquers so much more than the simple task of making the street a little easier to look at. It involves those who created it, those who supplied the means to create it, and those whose lives it continues to impact. Wall paintings in particular take an important role in working for a greater good. Judith F. Baca, a Hispanic-American woman and artist- activist has contributed an unaccountable amount to the mural movement in Los Angeles. She has accomplished this by giving individuals the chance to create art and develop a sense of pride, she has taught younger generations a respect for their ethnic identity, and from the many walks of life that continue to view her

Brian Doyle's Joyas Voladoras first appeared in The American Scholar in 2004 and was later selected for Best American Essays in 2005. Doyle’s intended audience is the general population, though his writing style attracts both the logical reader and the hopeless romantics who seek metaphors pointing to love in any way. The beginning of the essay provides insight to general information about the hummingbird, which holds the smallest, capable, and fragile heart in the world. He then explains the significance of the blue whale’s heart with comparisons, indicating that the blue whale holds a heart the size of a room. He ends his essay by expressing that a human’s heart is always closed due to the fear of it breaking, remaining constantly

Success! That’s what we feel when artist with roots from Mexico, Elizabeth Blancas, self-identified as a Xicana, expresses her mind on a relevant issue throughout an outstanding display of empowering and freedom in the piece “Women & Two Spirits Are The Backbone Of Every Tribe”, in the corner of Saint Marguerite with Saint-Antoine West streets. In her painting, the artist presents a sexual issue and the cultural role it has in the indigenous tribes. Although the artist expertise relies on serigraphy, she blooms in the mural world hand-brushing distinguished figures by giving voice to protesters against a US company pipeline construction site, near the Standing Dakota Indian Reservation, and in special Caro Gonzales and Lauren Howland.

It shows the struggle and emotions of the Chicanos. Some of the murals like the mural of Mexican history and an unknown really shows all the aspect of their history. It shows the natives, women, men, revolutionaries and the major figures in Mexican history. The home page shows a drawing that represents the mixture of race which makes up the Chicano identity, the Native, Spaniard, and mestizo. This is a very visual history and one can pick some of the emotions and struggle through the paintings but one needs to understand the written history in order to appreciate it better because it makes it easier to identify especially with the major figures. Michelle Rosado makes an interesting point about the murals in the Chicano web site, when she mentions that "one may think that this is the history of all Mexican-Americans, but it is not. The effect of certain events that occurred in Mexican-American history on this community and California, such as the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and the Chicano Moratorium march against the Vietnam war, is addressed. The major outcome of these events emphasized by the web site is the influence it had on art in the Mexican-American culture. However, the history and other effects on all Mexican-Americans throughout the United states is not discussed". I agre with Michelle Rosado that "similar to the web site it [the documentary] does not talk about the very beggining of the Mexican-American

A prominent and well-respected artist during the Mexican Revolution, Diego Rivera, illustrates principles from the Manifesto of the Communist Party through his artwork, which furthermore demonstrates an influence on Mexican art. His original artwork Man at the Crossroads was destroyed at the Rockefeller Center in New York City after heavy controversy, but remade it in Mexico. Specifically, through Rivera’s Man, Controller of the Universe from1934, it is evident that the Communist Manifesto’s call for outspokenness and principle of abolition of private property for the bourgeois are depicted.

Hispanic art, food, and entertainment all have a common theme; they are all fun, light-hearted, yet fulfilling and rich in cultural heritage. On one side, Mexican culture in particular loves to make fun of itself. There are many depictions in song and art of lazy Mexicans in large sombreros with thick mustaches eating burritos. On the other hand artists like Diego Rivera paint large murals depicting rich historical events like the revolution, in bold colors on controversial topics (This Old, n.d.).

Mural art showed a great importance to Chicano communities by showcasing indigenous history or even romanticized beliefs.That gathered people together to focus on topics inside and outside their communities. Made young Chicanos and Chicanas focus on issues around them and let's their creativity, explore out for the best and not bad. To let people become more entwined in the cities and not create violence. For neighboring cities or visitors to see how strong and creative young and old muralists are in their art. One example is the “we are not a Minority” mural created by Mario Torero created due to the chicano right movements,located in east la, boyle heights area. Its importance was due to the fact cities were banning mural work and instead

Allende's fifth novel, El plan infinito (The Infinite Plan), set in the United States, follows the life of Gregory Reeves, son of a travelling preacher offering an “infinite” plan of salvation. Abandoned in a Mexican ghetto in Los Angeles after his father's death, he adopts Mexican macho qualities in order to survive, and becomes such a part of the Morales family that the daughter Carmen becomes his most intimate friend through life, even for a brief period his lover.