The Latino Midwest Symposium: A Photographic Chronicle of Latino Identity in the Heartland.
2012-13

Selected Work

In this section, I am sharing several of my photographs from The Latino Midwest, including images from the Junot Díaz reading and the Lila Downs concert. These photographs serve as a visual reflection of my early work in bridging cultural theory and visual storytelling, a practice that continues to shape my interdisciplinary work today.

Through these images, I invite viewers to engage with the complexity of Latino identity in the Midwest, a region often overlooked in discussions of Latino culture. As an educator and artist, I strive to create spaces for these dialogues in my teaching, ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds see themselves reflected in the curriculum while also challenging them to think critically about the role of art and culture in shaping societal narratives.

The Latino Midwest was organized by Claire Fox, associate professor of English and Spanish and Portuguese at UIowa, whose interests include inter-American cultural studies, Mexican and U.S.-Mexican border arts and culture, visual culture studies; Omar Valerio-Jiménez, associate professor of history, who wrote a study of Latinos in early 20th-century Iowa; and Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez, who was assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, with a research focuses on literature and art from the U.S./Mexico borderlands.

In one of the photographs, you can see Junot Díaz alongside my mentor, Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez, whose research on U.S.-Mexico border cultures greatly influenced my academic and artistic trajectory. Dr. Vaquera-Vásquez, an accomplished writer, painter, and scholar, provided invaluable guidance during my MA studies in Spanish at the University of Iowa. His expertise in U.S. Latino literature, creative writing, and border studies profoundly shaped my understanding of Latino cultural production, an understanding that continues to inform my work as an interdisciplinary artist.

The symposium had a series of cultural and academic events associated that I had the fortune to document photographically for The Daily Iowan:

“Migration Letters”– installation on the Englert’s stage exploring misconceptions and political incorrectness around immigration via the alphabet, featuring visiting artist Alejandro García-Lemos.
Junot Díaz – A reading and talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, sponsored by the UI Lecture Committee – Friday, Oct. 12, Englert Theatre
Lila Downs concert, sponsored by Hancher. Saturday, Oct. 13, Englert Theatre

Installation of “Migration Letters” by Alejandro García-Lemos

Iowa City, Iowa.

Oct, 11th 2012

This section is dedicated to my involvement with The Latino Midwest, the 2012-13 University of Iowa Obermann Center for Advanced Studies-International Programs Humanities Symposium. The symposium aimed to examine the impact of Latino culture in the Midwest, a region experiencing significant demographic shifts due to its growing Latino population. The event explored the intersections of history, literature, art, education, and politics that shape Latino identity in this region, which, despite its smaller Latino population compared to other parts of the U.S., has been deeply influenced by Latino culture. The symposium fostered rich conversations that resonate with my ongoing work in art, photography, and academia.

During my time at the University of Iowa, I had the privilege to photographically document several key events for The Daily Iowan, including a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz and a concert by the renowned Lila Downs at the Englert Theatre. These photographs capture pivotal moments of Latino representation in the Midwest, highlighting both the cultural richness of the region and the academic inquiry into Latino identity and migration.

In one of the photographs, you can see Junot Díaz alongside my mentor, Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez, whose research on U.S.-Mexico border cultures greatly influenced my academic and artistic trajectory. Dr. Vaquera-Vásquez, an accomplished writer, painter, and scholar, provided invaluable guidance during my MA studies in Spanish at the University of Iowa. His expertise in U.S. Latino literature, creative writing, and border studies profoundly shaped my understanding of Latino cultural production, an understanding that continues to inform my work as an interdisciplinary artist.

Photographing The Latino Midwest symposium allowed me to synthesize my academic interests with my visual practice, capturing moments that encapsulate the complexity of Latino cultural narratives. Whether through the intimate moments of Junot Díaz's reading or the dynamic energy of Lila Downs' performance, my photographs document the role of art in fostering cultural dialogue, a theme central to my current artistic practice in Los Angeles. This event also offered me the opportunity to further engage with interdisciplinary conversations on identity, migration, and the Latino experience, which remain integral to my work as an artist and educator.

As a Venezuelan-American artist now based in Los Angeles, my experience documenting The Latino Midwest positions me uniquely to contribute to contemporary discourses on migration, identity, and visual culture in the classroom and beyond. Through my academic background in Latin American and U.S. Latino studies, combined with my professional expertise in photography and interdisciplinary art, I aim to foster critical engagement with these topics among my students and audiences. The photographs from this symposium are not just visual records; they represent the intersection of my academic research, cultural identity, and creative expression, all of which inform my pedagogical approach as an instructor of art, photography, and Spanish.

Opening of “Migration Letters” by Alejandro García-Lemos

Iowa City, Iowa.

Oct, 11th 2012

The Latino Midwest Symposium: A Photographic Chronicle of Latino Identity in the Heartland. 2012-13

The Latino Midwest Symposium: A Photographic Chronicle of Latino Identity in the Heartland.
2012-13