Sonia Romero Chicana Analysis

Sonia Romero was born in 1980 in Los Angeles and is the granddaughter of the founders of the Craft and Folk Art museum in Los Angeles and daughter of two artists, Nancy and Frank Romero. Her artistic upbringing influenced her to pursue a career in art. Romero attended Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and earned her Bachelor in Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design, with the emphasis in printmaking. She believes her printmaking artworks can mass communicate the prevalent social and political issues in society. In fact, Sonia Romero is a Chicana artist known for her printmaking, mixed media linocut prints, and public art work. She uses her artistic skills to depict the diversity of Los Angeles, exhibit female empowerment, and embrace the Chicanx identity. Although, many artist use their art to express their creativity

and demonstrate their artistic skills, nevertheless, Chicana artist, Sonia Romero, utilizes her talent to challenge stereotypes, represent diversity and unity among marginalized communities, and deconstruct patriarchal ideals within the art industry.

Sonia Romero is recognized for representing Latin American imagery and unity in her public works. Specifically, her public work located at MacArthur Park, Urban Oasis, 2010. The mural was commissioned by the Los Angles Metro and it is composed of 13 ceramic mosaic tile that are installed along two facing mezzanine walls. Each panel contains a white and black illustration centered in a circle contained within a square panel that is made of a cement to represent the industrial buildings around the neighborhood (“MacArthur,” n.d.). In the process of making this public work, Sonia Romero initially conducts research and observation studies of the community (Dambrot, 2016). In fact, the 13 illustrations either authentically represent the inhabitants of the community or the historical events that took place in MacArthur Park (Gilbert, 2012). Unfortunately, in society many diverse

brown and black communities, such as MacArthur Park, are stereotyped as violent and unsafe. Therefore, Romero is able to challenge these stereotypes with her murals. For instance, one of the pieces convey a paletero, an icecream vendor, walking around the community. This illustration is significant because it displays the importance of street vendors and their involvement within the community. The simple illustrations also exhibits the Latin culture and community that inhabit the community. In another illustration, she portrays teenagers playing basketball in the park. In other words, the mural depicts the youth utilizing the park to perform typical physical activities. Moreover, the illustration challenges the way many black and brown youth are criminalized in diverse communities. She exhibits the youth performing normal everyday behavior which conveys a positive representation of the community. Therefore, Romero authentically and appropriately represents MacArthur Park’s rich diverse community and history by illustrating and rendering common everyday activities that occur in the area.