¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies

Our first event is the exhibition ¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies, February 8 through May 16, 2021. In collaboration with Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) in St. Paul and the UMN Heritage Studies & Public History program, the exhibition will document through art and archival materials the department’s five decades of scholarship and community engagement.

CLUES operates the only nonprofit, Latinx-themed art gallery in Minnesota. It is an institution that empowers Latinos by building upon individual and collective strengths, as well as shared cultural values. Originally a service provider, CLUES expanded its operation to provide job training for immigrants, adult education, youth leadership, senior care, and creative expression. The mission of CLUES aligns with the goals and vision of CLS and our students.

¡Presente!: 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies is co-curated by Ernesto Moreno (MA '20, heritage studies & public history), Aaron Johnston-Ortiz (CLUES Director of Arts & Cultural Engagement), and four students of the incoming cohort of Heritage Studies & Public History, under the guidance of Prof. Karen Mary Davalos.

The exhibition is conceived as a multi-media show of archival documents about the students’ mobilization efforts that created the department in 1971 and increased the faculty in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s; female leadership among student activists; cross-racial and -ethnic solidarities; and community-based pedagogies. 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.