by Zurellys Villegas
Renowned artist Juana Alicia brings her creative universe to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (SVMA) with an exhibition that promises to captivate art and culture lovers. Through paintings, drawings, prints, and an original illustrated book, the exhibition immerses us in the mind of an artist who masterfully transitions between various disciplines and visual languages.
While Alicia is widely recognized for her striking murals that adorn public spaces in San Francisco and other cities, this exhibition reveals lesser-known facets of her work. Her most recent project, “La X’tabay: El Libro de los Libros,” in collaboration with writer Tirso González Araiza, is a testament to her versatility and her ability to fuse visual art with literary narrative.
Alicia’s style is characterized by a magical and social realism that evokes the great Latin American literary movements. Her works, full of symbolism and depth, address urgent issues such as social justice, gender equality, the environmental crisis, and the fight for resistance and revolution.
A legacy of social commitment
Throughout her career, Juana Alicia has left an indelible mark on the artistic and social scene. Her murals, such as SANARTE at the San Francisco University Medical Center and MAESTRAPEACE at the San Francisco Women’s Building, are true monuments that celebrate diversity and the fight for civil rights. In addition to her work as a muralist, Alicia has collaborated on large-scale projects, such as the GEMELOS mural, created with Tirso González Araiza in Mérida, Yucatán. She also shared her knowledge at several universities, including the University of California at Davis and Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, and Stanford University. After retiring from academia, she dedicated herself full-time to artistic practice.
The artist, who divides her time between Berkeley, California and Mérida, Yucatán, México, has dedicated much of her life to teaching. Founder and director of several educational institutions, Alicia has trained generations of young artists and has left a deep mark on the artistic community.
Juana Alicia, Chicana muralist, receives recognition and continues to create
Juana Alicia continues to leave her mark on the art world. With a career of more than four decades dedicated to teaching and artistic creation, Alicia has recently been honored with the “Legacy Artist” award granted by the State Council of California.
Originally from the United States and with a residence divided between Mérida, Yucatán, México and Berkeley, California, Alicia has dedicated much of her life to art education. After retiring as a teacher in 2016, she has fully devoted herself to the production of murals and studio works. Her works are characterized by a magical social realism, influenced by contemporary Latin American literary movements.
Throughout her career, Alicia has received numerous awards and grants, including the Fulbright García-Robles Scholarship, the Mujer de Fuego Award, and the Educational Legacy Award. Her murals, both individual and collective, adorn public spaces in Nicaragua, Mexico, Pennsylvania, and various cities in California.
An unmissable exhibition
The Juana Alicia exhibition at the SVMA is a unique opportunity to get to know the work of one of the most important artists of our time up close. The exhibition, curated by Marco Antonio Flores, will be accompanied by an opening reception on Saturday, September 21, where the public will be able to enjoy a meeting with the artist and other related activities.
The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art invites all interested parties to visit this great exhibition and immerse themselves in the creative universe of Juana Alicia.
