 Barrio Hollywood is one of Tucson's many distinctive Mexican-American neighborhoods, famous locally for its annual Fiesta Grande - a fantastic street fair along Grande Avenue, its main arterial street.
This no-nonsense neighborhood is known for its history of activism fighting systemic racism, sub-standard education, and denigration of Mexican culture and use of the Spanish language. This painting attempts to integrate neighborhood icons with a splash of timelessness. I also seek to honor the power of family in Tucson's barrios. Proud of its Lowrider Culture, this piece enlivened some of my own memories growing up immersed in Chicano & African-American communities of south-central L.A. and I remain a fan of classic low-rider cars and music genre to this day. Renown Tucson author, Patricia Preciado Martin, grew up here. Her many books about Southern Arizona's people, history and culture have inspired me for many years. Barrio Hollywood is also home to Tucson's cherished artist, David Tineo. For more information on Barrio Hollywood and its place in Tucson's history, see the booklet, Looking Into the Westside - Untold Stories of the People, now published on line.
Angelita Ochoa (below), (holding baby in the 1941 family portrait included in the painting), saw her 97th birthday in 1995.
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* La Corúa was a large, fierce looking but benevolent water serpent that lived in springs of water and protected them. They say it had a cross on its forehead and cleaned the veins of water with its long fangs or tusks. It was a shy creature but could sometimes be caught sunning on the rocks of the spring. According to Sonoran folk beliefs, if one killed the Corúa, the spring would dry up. Vanishing water sources and economic pressures have pushed the folklore of La Corúa to the dustbin of history on both sides of the border, but La Corúa remains in the minds and memories of elders in the Pimería Alta.
Serpents have been sacred for millennia to indigenous peoples throughout the Americas and are respected as guardians of water sources and bringers of rain. * Beliefs and Holy Places - A Spiritual Geography of the Pimeria Alta - James S. Griffith, University of Arizona Press, 1992 Background painting: Baboquivari Peak - the monolith landmark defining the Baboquivari mountains southwest of Tucson. The center of Tohono O'odham cosmology, it is sacred and is the home of I'itoi, their Creator and Elder Brother. The peak is visible from Casa Grande in the northwest, south into Mexico. (I'itoi is also the figure in the O'odham 'Man in the Maze' basket design.) |
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