Dolores Guerrero-Cruz

Dolores Guerrero-Cruz (born 1948) is an American artist, she is known for her contemporary art through paintings, murals, and graphic art. Her art reflects her advocacy towards the feminist movement and empowerment movement for the Chicano and Latin community.

Guerrero-Cruz now resides in East Los Angeles.

Early life and education Dolores Guerrero-Cruz was born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 1948, she is of Mexican-American heritage.

Career Guerrero-Cruz has been an advocate for Chicano social justice and feminism. In the 1970s she had been part of the art collective, Centro de Arte Público along with Barbara Carrasco and Judithe Hernández.

After graduating she began her profession at Public Art Center of Highland Park and at Self Help Graphics and Art, Guerrero-Cruz became active in Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) in order to spread awareness on the United Farm Workers. In January 1999, Guerrero-Cruz and co-founder Juan Gómez established Screen Print School and Canela Studio. and Jugo de naranja. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, Guerreros work, Mujeres y Perros, was featured in the collection called Self-Help Graphics and Art archives. Guerrero was also included in the Ricardo and Harriett Romo Collection of Mexican American Art Prints with her works including Angels Nights, From Busz Words, and Raices Folkloricas.

Artwork Peacemakers (1985) Guerrero-Cruz worked on Peacemakers from November 4 to the 7th of 1985. This piece was created through silkscreen printing. Organizations that helped funded this art piece include National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts, California Arts Council, and Self-Help Graphics and Art where she was employed. According to the Online Archive of California, Guerrero-Cruz's piece depicts three Mexican-American children losing their heritage due to being raised in an Anglo-American society. In addition, the artwork also includes the need of peace and resolved hostilities in children in order to prevent future nuclear war.

Mujeres Y Perros (1987) Guerrero-Cruz's image screen print was created in the year 1987. It can be found in the Self-Help Graphics and Arts Archive Collection, a part of the University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Special Research Collections. A nude women is depicted laying on a blue bed in a gray room with her eyes closed, her arms across her forehead, and her legs crossed. Beside her, the window is wide open showing the landscape of a desert with cacti, a purple sky, an orange sun, and two howling, red dogs. According to Calisphere, an organization of University of California Libraries, themes relating to this painting include women nudity, usage of animals in art, Chicanx culture, and American culture.

Exhibitions

1985 – 'Women by Women', Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, California 2017 – "Entre Tinta y Lucha: 45 Years of Self-Help Graphics & Art”, California State University, Los Angeles (August 25 - September 28, 2017) 2017 – Exhibition at Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California 2018 – "Spoken/Unspoken: Forms of Resistance", Sesnon Gallery, Santa Cruz, California (February 8 - March 17, 2018)