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Mario Chacon is an artist warrior who uses his talent to document Chicano and indigenous history and social justice issues. His work, including murals throughout San Diego, evoke strong emotions that become a lasting call to action against injustice.
Chacon, 67, took his first art class at age 50, but his journey as an artist began long before that.
He grew up in Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles, during the Chicano movement of 1960s and 70s. He remembers the high school walkouts by thousands of Chicano students who protested unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools.
“The walkouts were the most formative experience for me,” Chacon said. “It exposed the racism, the brutality … the excesses that police will take even on children who are protesting for a better education. It was very instrumental in me forming my opinions as well as my career goals and my artistic vision.”
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Marivi Soliven Blanco, a San Diego-based award-winning author, often draws inspiration for her writings from her 20-year job as a Tagalog-English telephonic interpreter.
Most calls pre-pandemic were regarding car loans, bankruptcy, immigration hearings and domestic violence. However, during the pandemic the calls focused more on unemployment, divorce court and hospital requested end of life interpretation for Filipino patients who had little, if any, chance of recovery.
“They cling to the voice on the phone,” Soliven Blanco said. “I infuse words like
Ate to bring them a feeling of familiarity during the difficult time. They put so much trust in the voice on the other side of the phone at the moment of duress.”