Liz Scotta

Liz Scotta

Liz Scotta taught in Mexico for five years. She developed her art along the lines of Georgia O’Keefe, Wolf Khan, Romare Bearden, and Matisse.

Click on the button to see her series of churches from Oaxaca that relates to the Diego mural as they are symbols of Spanish oppression of Indigenous people throughout Mexico.

Michaela Gonzales’s Video

Michaela Gonzales’s Video

Ms. Michaela Gonzales created this video lecture with the support of Sophie Touzé, art historian at City College who is teaching a variety of courses such as Women through Art History and Latin American Art History among others. Together they leveraged an interactive tool called VoiceThread and Michaela created a lesson focusing on aspects of the Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity mural.

This lesson discusses deeply feminine characters in the mural such as Coatlicue the primordial goddess in the middle, the Indigenous Tehuantepec region woman referenced in Kahlo’s dress code as well as real life persons such a Frida Kahlo herself and other characters such as the diver Helen Crlenkovich on the upper left.

Click button to see video –

Maria Fe Picar

Maria Fe Picar

Diego Rivera’s Print, Open Air School, 1932 inspired Maria Fe Pica to write her poem, What We Know Now, But Didn’t Know Then.

For Maria, the print looked like a person telling a story around a campfire. She was reminded of how technology has erased the personalized touch of telling stories by “word of mouth” and how we are now so inundated by technology that these traditions and stories have gotten lost in society, and maybe we need to rekindle that feeling, that method of not only telling stories but also communicating in general on a personal level.

 

Diego Rivera, Open Air School, 1932

Click the button to read her poem –

Brian Elder’s Art

Brian Elder’s Art

Brian Elder worked briefly with Bernard Zakheim, Diego Rivera’s onetime assistant.  Zakheim was an activist through his art. Brian has spent years as a muralist, fine artist, and activist.

Click on button to see  “Syria / Paris” or “Their Stories Must be Told,” two drawings on Arches paper, each approximately 10” x 15”.

This video shows a group of Latina Girl Scouts from Santa Rosa assisting Brian Elder to create a mural of cultural significant scenes underneath a freeway overpass –