The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Armando Gutierrez interviews Sylvia Orozco on her experiences studying in Mexico City as a Chicana artist on a scholarship from Becas para Aztlan. Orozco explains that Jose Angel Gutierrez and Mexican President Luis Echeverria organized the scholarship program in 1972 to help educate Chicanos interested in medicine, but faced discrimination in the United States. President Jose Lopez Portillo expanded the program to include social science students and Orozco gained admission as an art student. Orozco choose to study in Mexico because she wanted to produce socially conscious art and U.S. schools mostly taught a purely esthetic style. Orozco explains that Mexicans often perceive Chicanos as having rejected their Mexican culture and identity, although many are also aware of the Chicano Movement and support their efforts. Orozco herself prefers to identify as a Mexicana, instead of a Chicana, which she believes only creates divisions between Mexicans in Mexico and the U.S. Orozco also explains that while some Mexican artists strive to emulate the aesthetic style of American art, others are pushing for a return to Mexican techniques and styles. Orozco then discusses President Jimmy Carter's visit to Mexico City. She also explains that the scholarship program is slowly changing Mexican perceptions of Chicanos, as students give talks at schools and interact with other students. Keywords: Abstractionism, Aesthetics, Art, Assimilation, Becas para Aztlan, Bellas Artes, Capitalism, Carter Administration, Chicano Issues, Chicano Muralists, Chicanos in Medicine, Chicanos in Mexico, Class struggle, Crystal City, Diaspora, Fine Art, Foreign Policy, Gringa, Gringo, Homeland, Identity, Jimmy Carter, Jorge Bustamante, Jose Angel Gutierrez, Jose Lopez Portillo, La Raza Unida, Luis Echeverria Alvarez, Luz Gutierrez, Medical School, Medical Students, Mexican Identity, Mexican Perceptions of Chicanos, Mexican School of Painting, Mexico City, Murals, Oil, Optic art, Pocha, Pocho, Ray Patlan, San Carlos, Scholarship programs, Scholarships, Social Sciences, Socially conscious art, Spanish Language, Terminology, Terms, Transnationalism, UNAM, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Zocalo. Broadcast date: 1979-05-25.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Gutiérrez, Armando (host), and Orozco, Sylvia (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
5/24/1979
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin