Transcriber’s note: The women of MujerArtes were invited by The Center for Women and Gender Studies at UTSA to participate in Women’s History Week. The concerted effort made by the center to include community people, especially women from the barrio program, has made each of us from MujerArtes rethink of ourselves from another perspective. In a quiet way, some of us see ourselves in a different dimension. A dimension that we had not experimented with. Some women now know that they can speak in public; what is more, they can be the main focus of an Audience. Hey, we were one of the panels at The University! Within the MujerArtes program, there was an underlying mixture of very subdued excitement that comes more with the art of experience from life; a sense of consternation, at the same time, a sense of apprehension because we as mujeres, from el barrio, had been invited and were about to give a plática (actually, as small as the talk would be, it was a public speech) at the University of Texas at San Antonio, downtown campus. What follows is an extraction of what each of the women had to say:

Mary Helen Tamez: Presently, I am the instructor at MujerArtes but back when it started in 1995, I was a student and I was like the very first one when the doors opened. I was like the very first one there and I was very excited about it. What really caught my eye at that time is that the lessons were free; because at that time, I wasn’t able to afford to go somewhere else and pay for the lessons. So, that’s one of the things that really did catch my eye, and also I didn’t think that I would be able to go because one of the things that it said on the flyer or on the bulletin at church that you had to live in the area. I used to live in the area way back, but I do not at the present. So, they said, "no, no," you know, "that is fine." So, I went ahead and stayed there for about a year more. And then financially, I couldn’t stay any longer. I had to do something else to help out, you know. I started baby-sitting, so I stayed at home. And then I had the opportunity to come back as an instructor because, for a while, I did work with Veronica Castillo and she showed me a lot of the other things that I had learned since before, when I first started with our first teacher which was Magda [Chellet]. So now, I’m here as an instructor, to show you that women can, you know, you don’t have to stay at home, we can do something. You know, it just makes you feel good when you can come back as an instructor, after you’ve been there as a student. It’s made me feel really, really good. I thought the opportunity was great because the hours are terrific, I can drop my daughter off I still have a daughter that’s twelve years old, I have four daughters in fact but the other ones are older but my youngest is twelve, so, I have the opportunity to go drop her off at school, go pick her up. Also, I am very lucky in the respect that if something goes wrong with her, if she gets sick, I can go pick her up and that really helps out. That really helps me out; I really enjoy that, being able to do that; or if she has a field trip. When I was baby-sitting, I couldn’t do that, because I had baby-sitting, I couldn’t take the children with me, so… But now as an instructor, things are easier. The ladies, really seem to enjoy it; not only the co-op, but I think a kinda support group really cause we get to talk about things that are going on in their lives that wouldn’t be able to do with anybody else or we would be stuck at home. So, I really enjoy it; we laugh a lot.

Imelda Arismendez: I of course enjoy going to this program. But I think, it gives us a little bit more than just making the finished product. It gives us a sense of identity as women, as people helping one another and I think Mary Helen said that, as a support group, but it also gives us a sense of identity that we are women; we are Mexican-American Mexican women also from Mexico and quite other, half of the students may be from Mexico directly. It gives all of us a sense of identity, and sometimes even that helps us to bridge that gap that exists, and it does exists between the Mexican-American and the Mexican identities. It also keeps us in touch with our culture, who we are, what we wish to be in touch with. The idea of making things with our hands brings us back to our beginnings; to our roots in Mexico and so it helps us affirm that culture, affirm that not everything needs to be bought and that we can do it ourselves, we can put down on the plates things about our lives that we could normally not find somewhere else. We can find some stories that are written on the pottery. You’ll see some of the stories that are written on the plates of women. Their history is on there and its really touching because they’re sharing not just a piece of pottery but a piece of their lives. And so, we share that also within the group and we share pieces of our lives together. We did say it was a co-op; I think in the long run, yes, hopefully, it will get to the point where it will be self supportive, the program itself. But meanwhile, I think our need to lean on one another is also a big side product of what’s going on and is part of the dynamics that happen within the program. But it’s been a joy. I, myself, work. I have a full time job. So my time there at the program is very limited. What am I doing there, I have a job. What am I doing there. I really find that this is very helpful, to me. Not only by my own expression, way of creating something, but also being around other women and yes we support one another. We talk about things we probably would not normally talk to anyone else. Some weird stuff goes on there sometimes and so I think we’ve even called other people to the program just by leaving our doors open and the laughter spills out and so other people hear that.

The traditional Mexican-American, I don’t know what traditional means. I’ve never known what traditional meant. Or, maybe we did, but didn’t necessarily mean we followed it, but I was very surprised and very proud when I did finish the piece. It was very nice, it was a feeling of, not only a mixture of being surprised, but a mixture of accomplishment. It was a mixture of affirming that there was some kind of art within me, or that I could do something. It was a nice feeling. The other thing is we gather all this feelings for ourselves; but it doesn’t stay just within us; you know, yea, I have seven kids, I am divorced, that pride that you feel after you finish something is given to your family also and they in turn, and they came and they saw Mom. I made this freehand and they came up to it and they said to me and they said, "Mom, we didn’t know you could do that!" I said "Neither did I!" You know, so the feeling of accomplishment is shared within the family also. It’s not just yours; it’s a shared event.

We progress when we get on with life and hopefully, all of us will progress and progress. But, you know, what this program does, we come back to the neighborhoods. We bridge that gap of moving away from this area of town, the barrio. We lose some of that background, but when we come back, and we bring our kids into the neighborhood; our kids will also be exposed to the things that we were exposed to as we grew up in the neighborhood and some of us grew up there and some of us didn’t. But, that, that is a big value because it’s no longer a separated city. That the city is brought back together, not just with us but with our children, too. So that, that’s another thing about the program that is not seen. That is not obvious.

Ma. del Carmen Lujan: Bueno, yo soy la Señora Lujan, voy a la escuela con todas las compañeras aquí, en MujerArte, y verdád? … y este, yo estoy muy contenta porque he aprendido a hacer estas cosas para mi edad. He, Mary Helen me ha ayudado bastante; Veronica Castillo, bueno a mí me gusta mucho. Voy a la escuela tambien a aprender, a acabar de prepararme para aprender bien el Español. Después voy a seguir con el Inglés; aúnque yo lo puedo hablar en Inglés, pero no lo escribo, pero a mí me gusta todo esto. Trabajamos el barro, lo preparamos, lo amasamos, lo pintamos; bueno, yo ‘toy muy contenta con esta escuela. Yo vivo con una hija, Janie Lujan, ella me apoya mucho en todo esto; ella sabía que yo quería trabajar el barro y todo eso y dice: "Go ahead Amá, hazlo, y a mí me gusta todos los things; que sea yo; que pueda trabajar, como esto [showing an ancient-looking red clay dog from the state of Colima in Mexico that Ms. Luján made]. Y por eso es que me gusta bastante. Todo lo que yo quiero empezar y acabar, … si se quiebra, o alguna cosa, … vuelvo a hacerlo; hasta que quede como yo lo quiero. Y es my reason. Mi lema — ir adelante! That’s it. Gracias a Ustedes, que me ayudan bastante.

Elizabeth de León: Tengo muy poco tiempo de estar tambien en MujerArte. Estoy muy contenta; me gusta mucho dibujar, pintar; y esto apenas lo estoy aprendiendo. Tengo apenas… hice apenas dos trabajos; ese dibujo, si, apenas, he, me gusta dibujar. El barro… apenas es la primera vez que estoy aprendiendo, y me estan ayudando mucho, y me gusta mucho. Y estos son mis primeros trabajos que he hecho; apenas tengo cuatro semanas con ellos; y estoy muy contenta. Bueno, yo tengo poco tiempo; y ellas no, ni siquiera han conocido a mi esposo y no ha ido nunca para la casita, para MujerArtes. Pero él está muy contento porque con lo que me gusta el arte, me gusta todo esto y está muy contento que yo me supere; que yo tenga mis propias metas o este, me prepare en lo que a mi me gusta. Pero, ellos estan muy contentos y mis hijos les encanta, todo eso, de la pintura y estamos muy contentos y él me apoya mucho. Virginia Medina: Mi esposo tambien está muy contento, porque, pués él dice que uno como mujer hay que superarse; y este, y él está contento porque, pues, yo también porque es muy bonito estar trabajando con el barro; aprendiendo nuevas cosas, que pués en México es una, este, la cultura de México; y, sí, él me apoya en todo; o sea, lo que yo quiera, él me apoya; él trata de apoyarme y él está muy contento por lo que, él dice, tú te estas superando, adelante, yo te apoyo, en todo lo que tú quieras hacer, yo te apoyo." Y pués, está muy contento y yo también, porque, como digo, es nuevo para mi porque yo tengo también poco tiempo; tengo un mes, y es muy bonito, es muy bonito trabajar con el barro, y con las compañeras aqui presentes. Nos la pasamos muy bien. Bueno también me siento muy contenta. Pués al ver terminado pués, algo que comenzamos. Como pués, al pintar; este támpoco no está terminado; también le falta el "glaze", y otra quemada. Pero, pués se siente una emoción cuando tú haces una cosa y este… lo ves terminado y pués, ese es, mi punto de vista.

Esmeralda Cárdenas: I would read about how art is created. And, I thought that one day… well, I might have a chance, I never dreamt that it would come at this time. The creativity is there because I’m interested in what is traditional. This is from around Puebla — the design. And it’s a whole collection of pottery that is designed in this style, but I give it my own spin — I put the tradition, with my own spin. I feel like this is normal. We don’t do it like that, I give it my own spin, but I like to do it that way and I did it and this is from my perspective. You know how to create something that eventually I can, start creating something that is different. This process of painting is from Puebla. It is called talavera. And, I gave it my own spin; I had this bowl that I liked, and I wanted to do it the way it was there, but since I was working on this piece also, I decided to give it my own spin and make a semi-talavera looking thing; but then I discovered that this is also talavera. So, this bowl, to me, represents the embracing of the past with the present and the future of what talavera can look like. The family that I come from is very creative, very talented, and very artistic, especially the women; I’m the only one that chose not to do anything like that. But, just staying up with my mother and talking to her and watching her creativity, for example, I noted that she was unique because in the early sixties; she made some dresses that I did not want to wear because she made them very colorful; different colors, the dresses. And then in the eighties, I saw the same thing in the magazines and then some Tommy Hilfiger, has different colors, you know, they’re basically, all American, but the concept, the main concept, how my mom did it back in the sixties; It comes, I believe, out of her. I surprise myself a lot. So, I have found that, by me holding the pieces of pottery in a certain way; I don’t hold it the traditional like, well… the teacher, she gets her high pressure because you’re suppose to do it on the table. See, I have to do it like this [lifting the piece in the air.] Why do I do it like this? Because my mother, when she would cut, not traditionally on the table, she would cut like this [demonstrating how to cut material in the air] and her sisters couldn’t do it. Her sisters needed a pattern, my mom didn’t need a pattern; she would create her own pattern. Then everybody voted by saying "Yea, Perla is the best, she’s an artist; She even cuts in the air!" So, when I am doing it in the air, I say "Oh, Perla is doing it in the air." Second generation, third generation. And from where I come from, we don’t do pottery, but we’re from General Treviño, Nuevo León; It’s embroidery, and I learned embroidery; and they specialize in certain comforters that have a particular design. That was my interest for this design because I have it in my mind; how to do those comforters and I have always (been around since a child); I use to play under the comforters, while they were sewing them. And, that was my tent, my house whatever; when playing as a little girl and at the same time I was being taken care of by my mother, my aunt, and my grandmother while they worked. It’s like the same thing that women do at the mercado when they bring their child along to sell their wares, the child plays and is babysitted at the same time; And this all came back into my mind when working with pottery.

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Transcribed by Esmeralda Cárdenas. For more information on MujerArtes call the Esperanza Center at 228-0201.

DEDICATORIA: La presente redacción se la dedico con todo mi cariño a mis compañeras de MujerArtes, para celebrar el día diez de mayo — Feliz día de las madres — MUJERES

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