Black and Chicana Feminist Art Perspectives: Fostering Change through Art and Community Building

This presentation explores the relationship between feminist thinking and the alignment of art practices through an intersectional lens. The art practices and visual culture created by both Black and Chicana women from the 1960s to the present day have played a key role in establishing a foundation that redefines the intersections of art, race, and activism. First, the stratification of feminism and the unequal racial hierarchical situation of both the Black and Chicana feminist movement is explored in comparison to its white feminist counterparts. Next, this understanding is applied via an examination of the Black Arts movement and other Chicana feminist art movements, and the desire for art to move beyond the idea of “art for art's sake”. To supplement the investigation of the intention behind art and activism for Black and Chicana women are two case studies: interviews with women in Black and Latino communities that have best encompassed intersectional art perspectives in their work, and serve their surrounding environments with means of educating, liberating, and creating meaningful change through art. These interviews will serve as a basis for discussion of the necessity for community building, and the long-term effects that art exposure has on youth members of communities of color. In addition to interviews, two art exhibits and their content will be analyzed for themes of feminist exploration through Black and Chicana lenses; and the impact and intention of the artwork on the intersections of identity, feminism, and community. Lastly, this thesis culminates in a discussion of the role that intersectional art plays in activism today, and the trajectory that the movement is in.