Chicano Legacy: 40 years

http://www.CinemaViva.com

The chronicle of a chicano mural, the muralist commissioned to create it, and how students and faculty at UCSD rallied to turn a temporary mural installation into the first permanent minority mural installation allowed on campus. - Since 1971, the Chicano movement has been at the forefront of Chicano rights through its political activism and artwork. One man in San Diego encompasses the revolutionary spirit of both art and activism - world famous artivist Mario Torero. This documentary reveals the story of how Mario together with UCSD students and faculty were able to create the first permanent minority art installation on the campus of the University of California San Diego. For years, minority students have been suggesting that the campus of UCSD lacked art which reflected their cultures. In 2009, Mario met with Chicano students at UCSD and they created a mural reflecting the struggles of the Chicano movement featuring artistic depictions of historical icons like Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta. They proposed the mural to the administration for permanent installation, but were only granted a temporary mural on the face of Peterson Hall. After a spat of racial incidents on the campus in Winter 2010, the students rallied and sent a list of demands to the administration. One of these demands was to make the mural installation permanent. In an effort to quell the unrest, the Chancellor acquiesced and UCSD funded the permanent mural installation. After the approval, Mario decided to work with a group of artistic muralists in China to create the huge 57 foot mosaic mural. He even got to travel to China to provide the final artistic direction. The documentary chronicles the back-story, installation and final unveiling of the mural.