Brief Narrative of Career

I am a Chicano. My father was a Mexican American (with Apache and Yaqui mixed in) who was born in Texas, and my mother was born in Mexico. My grandfather fought in the Mexican Revolution alongside Pancho Villa. I am very proud of my heritage and culture, and have dedicated my life's work to celebrating it and reducing discrimination, racism and oppression of all peoples, including those in other parts of the world.

I received my doctorate in Sociology in 1972 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. At SUNY I was able to study the Sociology of Art under Milton Albrecth who published one of the first books (The Sociology of Art and Literature, 1970) on this subject. Thus, I was able to understand how sociological theory could be used to study art.

After my graduate studies, I was hired by the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado where I taught courses on the Sociology of Chicanos and courses on racial and ethnic minorities. During this period of my life, I received a national award from the National Association of Applied Sociologists and was a keynote speaker at their annual conference. I also received the Thomas Jefferson Award and the Boulder Faculty Excellence in Service Award from the University of Colorado at Boulder (in competition with everyone on the Boulder campus).

However, in 1990s I had an opportunity to join the Department of Art and Art History as an art specialist on Chicano art and art by minority groups in the United States. Since I had always had an interest in the Sociology of Art, I accepted this new challenge. To prepare myself for this new position, I went to Mexico and studied Computer art at the Centro Multimedia del Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City. I produce digital artwork which has a photographic base.

During my tenure as a faculty member of the Department of Art and Art History, I have taught the following courses: Art, Race, Ethnicity and Culture; Chicano Art; Art and Social Change; and Art in Contemporary Society. I am presently head of the Integrated Arts Area in the Department of Art & Art History.

As an artist, I received the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts from the State of Colorado. In addition, I received a Senior Fulbright Specialist Award to present lectures and work in Spain (2003) and another Senior Fulbright Specialist Award to do the same in Colombia (2006).