The Taller Tupac Amaru is a collective art studio founded in 2003 by Xicana artists, Jesus Barraza and Favianna Rodriguez, who are also members of Justseeds. The mission of the Taller Tupac Amaru is to produce political posters and art prints in order to revive the medium of screen printing. Jesus and Favianna were trained by printmaking masters in California, including Jose Alpuche from Self Help Graphics (Los Angeles) and Juan Fuentes from the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (San Francisco).
In 1998, Favianna was an intern for the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, where she was inspired to become a political poster artist. While working at Mission Grafica, in San Francisco, from 2001-2002 Jesus was mentored by Juan R. Fuentes, Calixto Robles and Michael Roman who taught him about the many applications of screen printing. In 2007, Melanie Cervantes joined the studio after learning how to screen print at Laney Community College in Oakland. Melanie is also a member of Justseeds and has played a key role in mentoring young Xicanas in screenprinting.
The three of us just did a super cool interview while we were at the US Social Forum.
Listen to our interview by clicking here
Favianna often collaborates with organizations around the country to develop cultural projects around social themes such as immigration, food justice and sustainability. She has also helped establish institutions that engage new audiences via the arts and technology. You can see more of her work on Favianna.com.
Jesus and Melanie work together as Dignidad Rebelde, a graphic arts collaboration that follows principles of Xicanisma and Zapatismo, to create work that translates people’s stories of resistance and resilience into art that can be put back into the hands of the communities who inspire it. We believe representing these movements through visual art means connecting struggles through images that inspire solidarity among communities of struggle worldwide. You can see more of their work on DignidadRebelde.com
In this spirit of collaboration among artists, all three artists are also members of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and the Consejo Gráfico.”
Here is the rest of our bio:
Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes work together as Dignidad Rebelde, a graphic arts collaboration that follows principles of Xicanisma and Zapatismo, to create work that translates people’s stories of resistance and resilience into art that can be put back into the hands of the communities who inspire it. They believe representing these movements through visual art means connecting struggles through images that inspire solidarity among communities of struggle worldwide. You can see more of their work on DignidadRebelde.com
Favianna often collaborates with organizations around the country to develop cultural projects around social themes such as immigration, food justice and sustainability. She has also helped establish institutions that engage new audiences via the arts and technology. You can see more of her work on Favianna.com.
In this spirit of collaboration among artists, all three artists are also members of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and the Consejo Gráfico http://www.consejografico.com/