Consuelo González Amezcua

Consuelo González Amezcua, known as Chelo or Chelito, (June 13, 1903 – June 23, 1975) was an American outsider artist of Mexican birth. She was one of a number of Texan women of Mexican descent, including Beatrice Valdez Ximénez and Alicia Dickerson Montemayor, to gain notice as a folk artist.

Life Born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, González was the third of the six children of Jesús González Galván and Julia Amezcua Saenz. She had four brothers, and a sister, Zaré, to whom she was especially close. The family immigrated to Del Rio, Texas in 1913. González received only six years of formal schooling, even though both of her parents were teachers. She wished to study art, and applied to Lázaro Cárdenas for a scholarship to the Academy of San Carlos. This was granted, but three days later her father, Jesús González, died, and González never attended the school. As a result she lived in Del Rio for the rest of her life, selling candy at the local S. H. Kress store and, after the death of her mother, living with her sister in the family home; González never married. During summers she would travel in Mexico, gaining artistic inspiration. Later in life, González recalled that her art received little attention from her family, and she said that her sister expressed little interest in her poetry. Otherwise her subjects were drawn largely from pre-Columbian history, and her art reflects her heritage as an American of Mexican birth. González also wrote poetry, some of which she incorporated into her drawings. She also compiled a book of verse, Cantares y Poemas. Her poems won prizes in Mexico, but her drawings remained unknown until a 1968 exhibition at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum.

Collections and exhibits Several of her drawings are in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Several of her works were sent on a two-year tour of Texas sometime after her death.