DALILA PAOLA MÉNDEZ
Enseñanzas y Conocimientos
This past winter quarter (2024) Las Maestras Center and the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies worked together to bring Indigenous Salvadorean, Guatemalan queer artist Dalila Paola Méndez, currently based in Los Angeles, as Las Maestras Center artist-in-residence. Dalila’s residency at UC Santa Barbara was intended to support the proposal of three graduate students from the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies interested in painting a mural. Cynthia de la Rosa, Alejandra Pulido Mejia, and Diana Sanchez worked under the guidance of Dalila, in the conception, planning, design and painting of two mural panels 5ft x 7ft, that were specifically intended to commemorate and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the department’s doctoral program. As LMC’s artist in residence for the Winter 2024 quarter Dalila also worked with Maestra Celia to mentor two other Chicanx Studies graduate students: John Jairo Valencia, and Karla Gomez Pelayo, both working on independent visual art projects. They also provided (culturally specific) critique for Diego Melgoza Oseguera’s MFA exhibition.
Of special note is that under our AnimARTE Programming, funded by the California Arts Council, LMC was able to collaborate with the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara’s new programs director, Dalia Garcia, in planning and organizing a museum talk by photographer Janna Ireland about her exhibition “True Story Index,” for Indigenous youth from Santa Maria. Following Janna’s talk, our artist-in-residence gave a creative writing and drawing workshop for the youth, UCSB students, and the general public. The most exciting aspect of this event was to have the art work’s purpose and intention discussed in 3 languages, Mixtec, Spanish, and English.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Dalila Paola Méndez was born in Los Angeles, growing up in the Echo Park and Silver Lake neighborhoods. As a child, she spent many hours in Los Angeles’ public libraries where she was introduced to different art forms. Méndez credits taking art classes at East Hollywood's Barnsdall Art Park for igniting her love for the arts. Her first medium was photography, using her 35mm camera to explore color and subjects.
Méndez earned her BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California. She worked as a bilingual teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching English to children in immigrant communities. After leaving her teaching job, Méndez co-founded the Chicanx art collective Womyn Image Makers (WIM) with Aurora Guerrero and other Chicanx visual artists in 1999.
ChSt 596: Graduate Art Studio/Seminar
The intention of this graduate studio/seminar was to engage the strategies used by Xicana[x] artists to articulate a sense of place, meaning, history, cultural continuity, and community building through the arts.
Cynthia de la Rosa, Alejandra Pulido Mejia, and Diana Sanchez worked under the guidance of Dalila, in the conception, planning, design and painting of two mural panels 5ft x 7ft, that were specifically intended to commemorate and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1st Ph.D. Program in Chicana/o Studies: First Doctoral Program in Chicana and Chicano Studies: A Mellon Foundation Affirming Multivocal Humanities Initiative.
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SANTA BARBARA
TALLER DE CUATRO ELEMENTOS
