▼ Culture The Vast Picture Show Dallas’ new exhibition in Dallas looks at the way border relations affect every Texan. BY DESIREE GUTIERREZ E ven if you’re nowhere near it, the U.S.-Mexico border is ines- capable in Texas. Nearly every aspect of Texas life has been touched by the history, politics and economics that have been influenced by the close proximity to the border. Dallas’ Nuestra Artist Collective will explore bor- der relations through the often omitted lens of Latina artists with its inaugural exhibi- tion, Fronteriza. The multi-medium exhibition opens Oct. 1 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and will run through Nov. 4. Through this exhibition, Nuestra Artist Collective wants to facilitate border discourse and conversations sur- rounding the experiences of Latinas and Xi- canas, Mexican-American women born in the U.S. Fronteriza explores these perspectives through nine female Texas artists: Melissa Gámez-Herrera, Karla García, Sara Herrera, Tina Medina, Analise Minjarez, Eliana Mi- randa, Tesa Morin, Lupita Murillo Tinnen and Sarita Westrup. “There’s a larger history to the United States and Mexico where this was Mexico before,” Nuestra Artist Collective co- founder Tina Medina says. “Some of us don’t understand that the people didn’t necessarily cross the border, the border crossed them. There’s a history there that’s not being taught, or it’s being ignored.” As Texas’ demographics become in- creasingly multicultural, Medina says it’s important for Texans to understand each other’s histories, and to work and play to- gether. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates His- panic Texans have now become the state’s majority population, according to The Texas Tribune. But that majority doesn’t stem from one source. Hispanic Texans include a vari- ety of heritages and cultures with their own histories and traditions. Fronteriza centers on the voices of Xi- cana and Latina women. Many identify as Nepanthla, which means “in the middle,” referring to two cultures. U.S.-born Mexi- can-Americans often live in an in-between state, with a connectedness to both soils. Despite living in the U.S., their awareness of the border is perpetual. Nuestra Artist Collective was founded on such experiences by Medina, Karla García and Eliana Miranda. Medina and García, both Dallas College Mountain View art pro- fessors, bonded over their identities. Over coffee, they often discussed the limbo in which they felt they lived and how their art spoke to it. Tina Medina The multimedia work “Ancestra” by Tina Medina, a Xicana artist. “For me, it’s not about knowing my fam- ily heritage, it’s about not knowing my fam- ily heritage and being disconnected and cut off from any family from Mexico,” Medina says. “I have no knowledge of my family from Mexico.” Medina, one of five 2022 Nasher Artist Grant recipients, looks at this disconnect through multiple media including fibers, painting, video and audio assemblages. She says she’s often invited to display her works at exhibitions during Cinco de Mayo and Hispanic Heritage Month. “As an artist, a Chicana Latina artist, that tells me that my work is not as important,” Medina says. “It’s only cute during those months.” Medina and García dreamed of amplify- ing Latina and Chicana artistic voices and breaking beyond the idea of inclusivity. They wanted to start conversations led by Hispanic women. They onboarded their coworker, professor and visual artist Eliana Miranda, and got to work. “We are all researchers, we’re profes- sors, we’re artists and we’re interested in social justice themes in the border, and also understanding the intricacies of our cultural heritage,” García says. “We felt like it was important for us to start this collective with that mission, specifically to create exhibitions and projects that can amplify that.” Through her art, García explores the bor- derland in relation to landscape. Her sculp- ture “Vida” will be on display in Fronteriza, Through clay, ceramics, found materials symbolic of her heritage and photography, García depicts Mexican culture and pays tribute to the border landscape. Her bina- tional art installation “La Línea Imaginaria” is simultaneously on display at the Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso and Parque Público El Chamizal in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, until Nov. 22. García, who was born in Juarez and mi- grated to El Paso at 13, sees no difference in the desert landscape of Juarez and El Paso. “To me, it is one and the same, and the two cities call each other sisters,” she says. Fronteriza has been in the works for a year. Each artist will bring a personal per- spective to political, labor, migration, envi- ronmental, historical and social justice themes through media such as ceramics, fi- bers, textiles, basketry, painting, drawing, photography and video. The opening recep- tion at 6 p.m. on Oct. 1 will feature a perfor- mance incorporating movement, dance and music by Medina and Fort Worth dancer Sara Herrera. Nuestra Artist Collective will continue to engage the community through other inter- active events. On Oct. 15, Dreamers Mercado will present a market with Latin vendors in- cluding Flores BakeHaus, Human Rights Initiative, Whose Books, Pinky’s Summer, Emily and Carlos Don Juan and Refugee Services of Texas. On Oct. 21, for Conchas y Conversacio- nes, the collective will collaborate with bak- ery Más Que Pan with a bread-sharing event called “Break Bread, Break Borders” to prompt storytelling and conversation about immigration. “Start thinking about issues about the border because it affects us all and it contin- ues to affect us,” Medina says. “It’s not just one person, it’s not so removed. It’s part of people, it affects people that you may not even know it affects. You think that it doesn’t affect you, but it does.” We bring sophistication with a twist to the metaphysical and holistic markets with products, classes and services. We have locations in Dallas, Carrollton & Frisco. WWW.SOULTOPIA.GURU Psychic Hotline Now Available: 888-415-6208 BEST OF DALLAS AWARD WINNER 10 Visit us: 900 W Davis St, Dallas • 3414 Midcourt Rd #100, Carrollton 7004 Lebanon Rd, STE 106, Frisco, Texas 75034 OCTOBER 13-19, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com 2020
