Margaret Garcia (born September 20, 1951) is a Chicana muralist, educator, and arts-advocate based in Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Margaret Garcia was born in 1951 at the County/USC Hospital in East Los Angeles, and is descended from the Tarahumara indigenous people of Mexico. At the age of ten, Garcia started painting portraits of family members, and of the local

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

community. She studied arts in college, and in 1978, she became involved with the Citywide Mural Program. Garcia studied art at the Los Angeles City College,

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

, and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

where she received her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in 1992.

Career and artworks

Garcia is a prolific painter (primarily of portraits) and has painted several murals in the greater Los Angeles area. She has taught courses and workshops on painting, and has lectured extensively in the region. In 2000, she was commissioned by the Los Angeles County Metro Art program to create a mural for the subway stop at the University City/Studio City location. Currently, Garcia teaches at Plaza De La Raza in Los Angeles, California, and curates art exhibitions.

''"Finding Jesus at the Taco Stand"''

2009'','' 10 x 13 in., oil on canvas'','' University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, Wyoming Part of the Cheech Marin Collection, this painting is a reflection of the predominantly Chicano neighborhood that Garcia grew up with in Boyle Heights. It is also featured in the artbook collection of small paintings entitled "Chicanitas from the Cheech Marin Collection."

''"Two Blue Whales"''

1992, 17' X 63' ft, Acrylic, Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA Inspired by a news story about

Blue Whales The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

being hunted to extinction, Garcia created a mural featuring two Blue Whales playing in the ocean. The sixty-foot mural is painted on a wall between Beethoven St. and Venice Blvd. in

Mar Vista Mar Vista is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California. In 1927, Mar Vista became the 70th community to be annexed to Los Angeles. It was designated as an official city neighborhood in 2006. History Mar Vista was called Ocean Par ...

''"Tree of Califas"''

2000, Mural, Universal City Station, L.A. Metro Rail, Los Angeles, CA The mural presents tourists and residents with information about an historic event that took place on the land adjacent to the metro station. At this historic site, California was ceded to the United States from Mexico. The state was named after the fictional queen Calafia, and the artwork is designed to evoke the mature pepper trees that used to grow along nearby Lankershim Boulevard.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* "Viision of Phantasmagoria", May 2009, Freemont Art Gallery,

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, CA *"Home Again: Margaret Garcia's Return", Aug.-Sept. 2016, Medical Village Gallery, USC County Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA * "Arte Para La Gente", Oct. 2020-Jan. 2021
Museum of Ventura County
Ventura County, CA

Group exhibitions

* "Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge", June-Sept. 2005, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum Main Gallery and Torres Gallery, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL * "Adelante! Mexican American Artists: 1960's and Beyond", Sept. 2011-Jan. 2012 Forest Lawn Museum,

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

, CA *"Today Is The Shadow Of Tomorrow: Día De Los Muertos 2015 Exhibition", Oct.-Nov. 2015, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA * "Prayer Pieces", Dec. 2015, Casa 0101,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, CA *"Born In The Heart", May 2016
ChimMaya Art Gallery
Los Angeles, CA *"Defining Ourselves: A Matriarchy of Artists" Oct. 2016, The Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA * "Papel Chicano Dos: Works on Paper from the Collection of Cheech Marin", Feb.-May 2017,

Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, CA * "LA/LA/LA", Sept.-Oct. 2017
Robert Berman Gallery
Santa Monica, CA * "Summer in the City", Jul.-Aug. 2017
Avenue 50 Studio

, CA * Atzlan: A Sense of Place", Oct. 2017-Jan. 2018, Th
dA Center for the Arts

Pomona Pomona may refer to: Places Argentina * Pomona, Río Negro Australia * Pomona, Queensland, Australia, a town in the Shire of Noosa * Pomona, New South Wales, Australia Belize * Pomona, Belize, a municipality in Stann Creek District Mexico ...

, CA * "Lowrider: A Group Show", Apr.-May 2018
Avenue 50 Studio

, CA *"Black, Brown and Beige", Aug.-Sep. 2019, The Self Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles, CA *"Ascending In Power And Significance: ''Women On The Rise''", March 2020, Vita Art Center, Ventura, CA

Collections

Margaret Garcia's artworks can be found in the permanent collections of several major museums including, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art,

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

The Museum of Ventura County
La Salle University Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum,

Blanton Museum of Art The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent coll ...

, The

Roswell Museum and Art Center The Roswell Museum (formerly Roswell Museum and Art Center) was founded in 1936 and is located in Roswell, New Mexico, United States. The museum features exhibits about the art and history of the American Southwest, as well as the Robert H. God ...

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

Forest Lawn Museum of Glendale
the

, the

Musée d'Aquitaine The Museum of Aquitaine ( French: ''Musée d'Aquitaine'') is a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. History In the 16th century, the site of the Musée d'Aquitaine housed the convent of the Feuillant ...

and the

University of Wyoming Art Museum The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

Honors and awards

* 1993 William Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award * Feitelson/Lundberg Award *Honored at the 13th Annual Aztlan exhibition "Aztlan Mujeres de Aztlan/Desde el corazon de la mujer (From The Hearts of Women)" at th
dA Center for the Arts
in

from Oct 9-Nov 21, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Margaret American women painters American artists of Mexican descent California State University, Northridge alumni University of Southern California alumni Artists from Los Angeles 1951 births Living people 21st-century American women