09 Randi Medina- Juana Alicia

Juana Alicia is a muralist, printmaker, educator, painter, and activist. Currently she is a teacher at Berkeley college where she directs a public art program called True Colors. I really love her work for her skill of painting and her mastery of composition arrangement and color. There is so much behind murals that I appreciate, its a way of connecting with the community spreading a story through art. A way to bring awareness, and in Juana's own words it is a way to "humanize our public spaces." Alicia Juana's work is definitely an example of this connection and she brings such a rich homage to past as well as contemporary culture with her work. Alicia inspires me because she is such a hard worker. Her passion is her art and she continues to make such an incredibly extensive body of work. Not only does she have an exceptional work ethic, but she is an excellent teacher and get's to know her students on a personal level. One body of work is called Ojas de Nuestro Legado/Pages From Our Legacies- is painted in the Chicano Center and Stanford University. In which, she includes pre-Columbian heritage to emphasize the multiracial multi-ethinic representation of who Latinos are today. Alicia worked with the students to come up with some elements of what they wanted to be represented. By this student teacher connection it further spreads meaning and connection in the work.