California Story Fund
ARTChiving Oral History Project
La Raza Galeria Posada
Sacramento
Project Director: Stephanie Sauer
A center for art and culture collects stories about its history
"It was the 60s. Mexican people living in the U.S. had finally said, 'Ya, basta!' It was time to advocate for a brighter future for our children."
Jose Montoya,
founding artist,
La Raza Galeria Posada
This project documented the history of the sponsoring organization, the Raza Galeria Posada, and the community of artists, activists, students and scholars in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys who helped make the organization an important statewide resource for Chicano, Latino, and Native American art and culture.
Among those interviewed were the founding artists and scholars as well as artists seeking to succeed at a time when mainstream galleries were closed to Latino and indigenous artists.
Storytellers were interviewed on tape, and the transcribed interviews made available on the web and in print.
The project culminated in an all-day educational workshop and mini-exhibit for the general public in September 2004.
Project Director Stephanie Sauer, said, "In 2002 we began to document and preserve all the materials we could find about our history. This project enabled us to unearth the stories of the people involved."