Armando Román

Who has the privilege to narrate our lives? What names to we call each other? Who possesses the authority to define our futures? Together, we shall embark on a journey to disentangle, unfurl, and decipher the intricate methods by which Latino artists traverse across mediums and cultures, transcending the complex intersections of class, indigeneity, gender, race, ability, and beyond. Through personal and communal introspection, students will question their own relationship to identity, language, and authorship within their own work. We will research artists across different eras and forms. Drawing inspiration from Martine Gutierrez, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Juana Valdez, David Antonio Cruz, Elia Alba, and others, we will collectively dissect, interrogate, revere, and amplify the themes across their practices. Using these artists as a foundation to our research-based practices, we will posit new and unique ways to describe ourselves, our practices, and our futures in relation to our hybridized identities. Students will be tasked with creating 3 finished pieces during the semester, melding their artistic interests through a research-driven lens fueled by class dialogues, artist presentations, and beyond.