Alicia Cardenas (March 22, 1977 – December 27, 2021) was an

Indigenous Mexican American Indigenous Mexican Americans or Mexican American Indians are American citizens who culturally identify with the Indigenous peoples of Mexico. Indigenous Mexican-Americans usually speak an Indigenous language as their first language and may not spe ...

painter,

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

ist, educator, activist, body piercer, and community organizer. She became a

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

with her own business at a young age and was noted for being a

Chicana feminist Chicana feminism is a sociopolitical movement, theory, and praxis that scrutinizes the historical, cultural, spiritual, educational, and economic intersections impacting Chicanas and the Chicana/o community in the United States. Chicana feminism ...

artist in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

's male-dominated tattoo scene. She served on the Board of Directors for the

Association of Professional Piercers The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) is the oldest and longest running organization for professional Body piercing, piercing. History The Association of Professional Piercers was founded in 1994 by Michaela Grey and colleagues. The fir ...

from 2005-2008 as President and 2002-2005 as International Liaison. She owned the Sol Tribe tattoo shop, which had been a longstanding feature of Denver. She was featured in a documentary on Chicano muralism by the Chicano Murals of Colorado Project, referred to as ''These Storied Walls''. In her community, she was known as "Mama Matriarch." At the age of 44, she was murdered in a mass shooting, along with four other people.

Artist

In the late 1990s, at the age of 19, Cardenas opened a tattoo shop, Twisted Sol, in the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

neighborhood of Denver. She cleaned houses and delivered pizzas to achieve her dream of opening a tattoo shop. As a muralist, she painted numerous works throughout the city of Denver. One of her notable works, completed in 2020, can be found in the Five Points neighborhood and is entitled "Crush Walls". She took part in the city's Babe Walls and RiNo Crush Walls events. She mentored many artists in the community. She curated three art shows for the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council in Denver. Cardenas was a social activist and advocate for indigenous and

LGBTQ+ rights LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

. She was involved in the

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

n dance and arts community. As an artist, Cardenas embraced the worldview of

Chicanismo Chicanismo emerged as the cultural consciousness behind the Chicano Movement. The central aspect of Chicanismo is the identification of Chicano, Chicanos with their Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American roots to create an affin ...

and interconnectedness. She had adopted as her own mantra the

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

prayer phrases "" and "", meaning 'Gratitude to the spirit of the divine' and 'All my relatives (we are all related)'. She gave the following as her life's guiding principle: "Become in harmony with the Earth and your fellow humans. Stay humble and work hard. Push to be a role model and show up for your community."

Death and legacy

In 2021, at the age of 44, Cardenas was murdered along with four other people in a mass shooting in Denver, perpetrated by Lyndon McLeod, the former owner of her shop. McLeod had self-published a trilogy of books where he mentioned murdering Cardenas, along with another of his eventual real-life victims. The Chicano Humanities and Arts Council,

Museo de las Americas Museo de las Americas is a fine arts museum in Denver, Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also b ...

Bobby LeFebre Bobby LeFebre (born 1982) is an American poet, performer, and cultural worker. He is the current poet laureate for the state of Colorado. He is the state's youngest and first poet laureate of color. Biography LeFebre is a native of Denver and at ...

, and her family and friends mourned Cardenas' loss and paid tribute to her legacy. She was remembered for her bright personality, always taking chances, and being a wonderful mother. She was honored by the arts and culture organisation, Return of the Corn Mothers, who inducted her as the 2022 Corn Mother. The ''Corn Mother'' honor is bestowed as part of a multi-generational and multi-cultural exhibit celebrating women in American culture and art.

References

External links

"These Storied Walls: Chicano Community Murals of Colorado"

"Re-opening of gallery features tribute to Alicia Cardenas" PBS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardenas, Alicia 1977 births 2021 deaths Chicano art Indigenous Mexican artists Indigenous Mexican American culture Chicana feminists Deaths by firearm in Colorado People murdered in Colorado American tattoo artists Women tattoo artists Artists from Colorado 21st-century American women artists 2021 murders in the United States