Xochitl Nevel Guerrero (born 1954) is a

Chicana Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

artist who specializes in making murals, paintings, gourd decorations, masks, and mosaic/tile art.

Early life and education

Xochitl Nevel Guerrero was born in 1954 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, but was raised in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

. She was the youngest child in her family of six children. Her father, Raymundo “Zala” Nevel, came to the United States from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

as part of the

Bracero Program The Bracero Program (from the Spanish term ''bracero'' , meaning " manual laborer" or "one who works using his arms") was a temporary labor initiative between the United States and Mexico that allowed Mexican workers to be employed in the U.S. ...

and settled in

West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the ...

, where he met Nevel Guerrero's mother. He was also a muralist, and it is because of him that Nevel-Guerrero became fascinated by art. Nevel Guerrero had a traumatic experience at the age of eleven that made her contemplate suicide at the age of thirteen. To cope with this, she started making art full of bright colors, changed her name, and began working in the community. She got a summer job around the ages of fourteen and fifteen that allowed her to work with children, where she learned she wanted to create a safe space for others to express themselves in artistic forms. Nevel Guerrero joined baile folklórico and also learned to play the flute because of her parents' love for music and dancing. Since her father was active in the social movements of the time, she became involved as well. She joined a theater group called El Teatro Triste, where she performed skits that had political or social critiques. At

Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. ...

, she joined a theater group called El Teatro Calcetin, where she continued to represent and be involved in the community while making statements about current events. Nevel Guerrero became part of the “

Mujeres Muralistas Las Mujeres Muralistas ("The Muralist Women") were an all-female Latina artist collective based in the Mission District in San Francisco in the 1970s. They created a number of public murals throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and are said to ha ...

,” where she connected culture, environment, and gender into her art. After

, she transferred to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and dropped out after a year. Nevel Guerrero then took a gap year, enrolled at Cal State East Bay (formerly known as CSU Hayward) and received her degree.

Works

''Latino America''

''Latino America'' was a mural project coordinated by the

in 1974. Together with artists like Ester Hernández, Nevel Guerrero created this piece on the Mission Model Cities building in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She painted much of the

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, and her dreams of a corn goddess inspire her to include corn in many of her works.

La Clínica de la Raza Mural

In 1977, Nevel Guerrero and her father painted this mural at the Clínica de la Raza in

East Oakland, California East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro, California, San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland t ...

. It depicts indigenous peoples and symbols as well as Mexican cultural elements, such as the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, J ...

and a ''curandera'' healing a man laying face down.

''Youth of the World, Let's Create a Better World''

This mural was painted by Xochitl Nevel Guerrero and Crystal Nevel, along with the PLACA group, in 1984. There is a young man holding the world in his arms with others around him. Those surrounding him are expressing themselves creatively through painting, breakdancing, and more.

Early life and education

Works

''Latino America''

La Clínica de la Raza Mural

''Youth of the World, Let's Create a Better World''

References

Further reading