August, 2023

The Sentimentalization of La Maestra Rural: Race, Gender and Violence in the Taller de Gráfica Popular

Marina M. Álvarez , Ph.D. student in Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2023 Richard E. Greenleaf Library Scholar

This lecture will present a series of images created by various artists of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (T.G.P. – People’s Graphic Workshop) meant to depict post-revolutionary-Mexico’s literacy campaign, and nationalized, rural education. Early artists, upon its founding in 1937 in Mexico City were concerned with education of the masses, and in turn, converted the rural schoolteacher into a visual trope in their portfolios. By nuancing these images, this lecture will analyze how they have articulated and disarticulated nationalism, gender-based violence, and notions of racialization.