“Artist plática on Citlali: Cuando Eramos Sanos” and “Food as Healing” Painting Workshop

Join the Contemporary and artist Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez, in a plática discussing her work in our current exhibition, Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers | Soñadores + creadores del cambio. The day will focus on Citlali La XicanX Superhero: Cuando Eramos Sanos (When We Were Healthy), Las Siete Guerrilleras (Seven Warrior Foods), and healing practices passed down through Xicanx families. The platica is followed by a painting workshop centered on food as healing.

The artist plática will take place from 1–1:45pm and will be followed by the painting workshop from 2–3:30pm. Due to limited space, registration for the workshop is required. Workshop participants will receive a pre-traced canvas with one of the siete guerrilleras. Materials and food will be provided.

About the artist

Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez identifies as a home girl from San Anto, a multimedia XicanX feminist artivist. Observing the Chicano Movement through the lens of a child has shaped her life, work, and the creation of her cartoon character, Citlali, La XicanX Superhero. She is a descendent from a long line of curanderas (native healers), but her method of healing is through her art, which she has practiced for over 15 years. Kuetzpal is a mujerista interested in a feminist economy. She operates several businesses connected to the arts. She offers students and the community a XicanX mujerista perspective and way to economic sustainability in the arts, as she believes in teaching students how to make a livelihood from their art. She obtained a BA from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received a certificate in traditional culture from Universidad Nahuatl in Ocotepec, Mexico.