Irma Lerma Barbosa (born 1949) is a Chicana American painter, printmaker, and performance artist.[1][2]

Biography

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Lerma Barbosa was born in Elko, Nevada and mostly raised in Northern California.[1] Her mother is Mexican, and father is Mexican-Yaqui.[3] She attended American River College in North Highlands, California, and eventually transferred to California State University Sacramento.[3] She was recruited for a fellowship at CSUS due to her involvement in the Sacramento Brown Berets and Mexican American Education Project.[1] She later joined the Royal Chicano Air Force, where she learned to make silkscreen prints.[1]

Notable works and exhibitions

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  • Women Hold up Half of the Sky (1975)
    • Women Hold Up Half of the Sky is a mural located in Chicano Park in San Diego, California painted by the women of the Royal Chicano Air Force in recognition of the role of the Chicana in El Movimiento.[4]
  • In Spirit (2022)
    • In Spirit was an exhibition at the Latino Center of Art and Culture in Sacramento, California in the spirit of Frida Kahlo and her influence.[5] The exhibit featured the works of various artists, including Irma Lerma Barbosa, who invoke that same spirit and depict the female experience.[5] Irma Lerma Barbosa contributed an oil painting titled La Llegada de la Despedida (The Arrival of the Farewell).[5]
  • Sacra-Momento (1969)
    • A silkscreen poster that documents Lerma Barbosa’s involvement in activism within the Sacramento chapter of the Brown Berets.[1] The poster is based on photographs taken of Lerma Barbosa in Southside Park, a place where many Chicano/a/x gatherings in Sacramento would take place.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Diaz, Ella Maria (2017). Flying under the Radar with the Royal Chicano Air Force: Mapping a Chicano/a Art History. University of Texas Press. doi:10.7560/312032. ISBN 978-1-4773-1203-2.
  2. ^ Griswold del Castillo, Richard; McKenna, Teresa; Yarbro-Bejarano, Yvonne (1991). Chicano art: resistance and affirmation, 1965-1985. Los Angeles (Calif.): Wight Art Gallery, University of California. ISBN 978-0-943739-16-8.
  3. ^ a b Irma Lerma Barbosa, Royal Chicano Air Force, retrieved 2023-12-06
  4. ^ "Indian Voices - Promoting and Sharing Native Indigenous Values and Traditions - Women Muralists Return to Chicano Park". www.indianvoices.net. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  5. ^ a b c "In Spirit". thelatinocenter.org. Retrieved 2023-11-29.