Latina Artists Honor Women’s History Month in San Antonio, Texas

The next must-see art show in San Antonio, The Status of Women in San Antonio exhibit,  opens on March 23, 2022, at the Common Culture Gallery next to the Spanish Governor’s Palace. The Gallery is reopening after more than a year of closure due to the pandemic. The City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture, one of the sponsors, chose Women’s History Month for its opening date.   

 On display are artworks by a diverse group of 15 local women artists who were asked to reflect on the findings outlined in The Status of Women in San Antonio report as a prompt for the creation of new, original works. The various artworks examine issues ranging from domestic violence to equal pay to reminding women to take time for themselves.

  San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture Interim Executive Director Krystal Jones noted:  “These artworks were designed and developed to be powerful catalysts that address the barriers that research shows women in San Antonio face daily. We hope each person that views this exhibition has an empathetic experience that inspires positive change for our community.” This exhibit was a collaborative effort between the San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture and the Metropolitan Health Department’s Violence Prevention Program.

The exhibit spans a wide range of mediums including paintings, photographic constructions, multimedia works, and fiber art. The artists participating in the exhibit include Kat Cadena, Kallie Cheves, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Jenelle Esparza, Audrya Flores, Sarah Fox, Adriana M. Garcia, Megan Harrison, Ana Hernandez, Mari Hernandez, Carmen Johnson Alexander, Laura Mijangos-Rapp, Rhys Munro, Karen Robinson, and Hiromi Stringer.

I have followed the careers of several of the presenting artists. This essay focuses on the contributions of Adriana M. Garcia and Mari Hernandez and their careers. 

Adriana M. Garcia grew up in San Antonio’s Westside and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She also studied fine arts in Valencia, Spain.  Garcia’s artist  statement reveals much about her approach to art and  explains her passion.  She writes about  the social importance of art as the “most accessible way to protest, love, heal, and learn.”  Garcia  strongly believes that art is how we “share our stories, the voices we choose to manifest our passion, hurt, anger, sadness, love, hope, and heritage.” 

Adriana M. Garcia. “Emma Tenayuca.” Acrylic on wood panel. Collection of the City of San Antonio. Photo by Ricardo Romo

Garcia’s process of creating artwork merits examination.  “I create,”  she writes “as a way to document the lives I’ve shared, (which) provides a way to honor a person’s existence and make visible the marks they have imprinted upon me and the environment-- a legacy left as well as those still to come.” She is a big fan of portraits and loves depicting strong women as a way to honor those who have come before and those who continue to lead by example.  Her portraits in the exhibit represent three women–Emma Tenayuca, Rosie Castro, and Maria Victoria de La Cruz–and are large works painted on wood panels. 

Adriana M. Garcia. “Maria Victoria de La Cruz, Domestic Worker, TOP Activist, 2020.”  Acrylic on wood panel.   Collection of the City of San Antonio. Photo by Ricardo Romo

Garcia first learned about labor leader Emma Tenayuca as a young girl. She recalled:  “I remember hearing stories about how fierce she was - arrested at the age of 16  in 1933, when she joined a picket line of workers. Over the years I've listened to songs, seen plays, heard poems, read children's books, and viewed documentaries about her work organizing Mexican pecan shellers and leading the strike in 1938.” 

The second large portrait by Garcia in the exhibit features a contemporary community activist, Maria Victora de la Cruz.  De La Cruz’s activism includes working with her community, communicating with undocumented individuals about their rights as immigrants, and helping immigrants acquire the services they can access.  Garcia reflected on this painting: “It was a tremendous honor to create Maria's portrait. I hope it conveys her dedication to work, family, and community. She and the people she works with at the Texas Organizing Project [TOP] are an inspiration.”

The third portrait by Garcia is of Rosie Castro. Garcia wrote on her website: “I remember my father recounting how, as a member of the Committee for Barrio Betterment (CBB), they selected four candidates to run for City Council in the 1970s. Their hopes were that the West Side would gain better representation by persons who were from and understood the neighborhood. Rosie Castro was one of the candidates”  Garcia’s three portraits of important San Antonio women leaders are powerful renderings and beautifully executed. 

The second artist I feature in this essay is  photographer Mari Hernandez.  Hernandez uses her camera as a means for self-reflection. Her artistic focus is conceptional, and her three prints in the exhibit, all self-portraits, are an impressive example of creative artistry. 

  Hernandez graduated from high school in 1997and over the next few years took a few art classes at San Antonio College. She earned a degree in English and Literature from UTSA.  She enjoyed taking photos and was spotted with her camera at a San Anto Cultural Arts celebration of Dia de Los Muertos in 2000 by director Manny Castillo.  Castillo recruited her as a volunteer working as a mentor in their youth program. She later served as editor of El Placazo,  the San Anto arts newspaper.   

Mari Hernandez. “Of Women, 2020.”   Inkjet print on photo rag.  Collection of the City of San Antonio. Photo courtesy of the artist. 

Hernandez gained confidence from her work at San Anto Cultural Center as well as from following the works of contemporary artists in the residence program at ArtPace. She explained that her emergence as a creative photographer led her to explore “socially engaged and identity-based art, as well as its contributions to human and community development.” 

Mari Hernandez. “Of Women, 2020.”  Inkjet print on photo rag. Collection of the City of San Antonio. Photo courtesy of the artist. 

Hernandez explained that her ​photographic self-portraits explore “identity and construction of the self.” She focuses  on “inward concerns to generate visual narratives,”  creating  “distinct aesthetic moods, as well as references to cultural mores and art historical movements.”  In her three photos in the exhibit, she is the  “subject, make-up artist, and designer” of her photographs.  A video about her work shows how she alters her identity and physical appearance in the photographs “through the use of make-up, prosthetics, wigs, costumes, and props.” 

Hernandez’s work in the exhibit represents her concern with the lack of representation of women of color in the arts community in San Antonio. These experiences deeply influenced her artistic development. She notes on her website that she was “inspired by appearance-altering photographers and early Mexican-American artists, and began experimenting with self-portraiture to address questions about identity.”

Mari Hernandez is a finalist for this year’s prestigious Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.   The winner is selected by a distinguished panel of judges. The competition attracted 2,700 entries, and the judges chose only 42 finalists, four from Texas. Her work will be shown at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery later this spring.  

Mari Hernandez, 2022.  Photo courtesy of the artist. 

Garcia and Hernandez represent two of the outstanding Latina artists in San Antonio. The exhibit, The Status of Women in San Antonio, is an important contribution to Women’s History Month.