Humanities Decanted: Mario T. García

Join us for a dialogue between Mario T. García (Chicana and Chicano Studies) and Melinda Gardana (Santa Barbara City College) about García’s new book, Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio. Rupert García is a compelling story of a working-class Mexican American from California’s Central Valley who became a major American artist with national and international recognition. Mario T. García’s oral history of Rupert García, based on extensive interviews over many years, provides a captivating autobiographical narrative of the life and times of an American artist. This testimonio places Rupert García’s art in historical perspective, spanning his beginnings in Stockton, California and his time in the Air Force, including participating in the U.S. war in Vietnam, to his experience at San Francisco State during the historic San Francisco State student strike in 1968–69. Influenced by history and politics, Rupert García’s art speaks to a changing America through the eyes of an artist, speaking to issues of race, class, imperialism, war, and the role of the artist in society.

Mario T. García is a Professor Emeritus of Chicana and Chicano studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published over 20 books over the course of his career, including Blowout!: Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice and The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America.

Refreshments will be served.

Cosponsored by the IHC’s Harry Girvetz Memorial Endowment