Virtual Exhibition Now Open - ¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies

CLUES Gallery has Gone Virtual
panoramic view of an art gallery
In 2021, the Department of Chicano & Latino Studies (CLS) celebrates its 50th anniversary. To commemorate this historic moment, we will produce public programs across the calendar year, so watch our social media channels and website for specific information. Learn more about our anniversary celebrations.

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Department of Chicano & Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota. To commemorate the occasion, we developed an exhibition called ¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies in collaboration with Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) and the UMN Heritage Studies & Public History program. 

Hosted by CLUES in their St. Paul gallery, the exhibition documents the Chicano & Latino studies department’s five decades of scholarship and community engagement through a combination of archival materials and artwork from local Chicanx and Latinx artists.

About the Exhibition

¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies is a multi-media exhibition that explores 

  • Students’ mobilization efforts that ultimately created the Chicano studies department in 1971 and increased the faculty in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
  • Female leadership among student activists.
  • Cross-racial and -ethnic solidarities.
  • Community-based pedagogies.

Experience the Exhibition

The physical gallery is now closed, but you can now view the virtual gallery.

Alternative Formats

The gallery information is also available in a text format.

The curatorial team commissioned seven Twin Cities artists and two art collectives to produce work that is inspired by the department’s archival documents housed at the UMN Libraries Archives & Special Collections.

Contributing Artists

Luisa Armendariz & Margaret Ogas

Eric Garcia

Alondra Garza 

Cadex Herrera

Flor Soto

Xavier Tavera

Aleydis Valdovinos

Spoken Word Performances by the Palabristas

Lupe Castillo

Neri R. Diaz

Gabriela Erandi Spears-Rico

Marion Gomez 

David Mendez

Larry Lucio, Jr. 

Teresa Ortiz

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Curatorial Team

Olivia Comstock

Karen Mary Davalos

Amber Delgado

Raquel Diaz Goutierez

Aaron Johnson-Ortiz

Ernesto Moreno

Kiara Padilla

Christina Martinez

Marah Mattison

Translation

Jennifer A. Dominguez

Alison Kraemer

José Garcia Balderas

Ivette Gonzalez

Digitization

Amanda Haugen

Samantha Porter

Denisse Santiago Ojeda

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