Maria Cristina Tavera

Maria Cristina Tavera ("Tina") is a contemporary Latino artist, curator, and cultural organizer who lives and works in Minneapolis, MN.[1] Influenced by her dual citizenship, as well as her transnational movement between her residing Minnesota and Mexico families, she combines historical and contemporary texts and images from recognizable Latin American myths, legends, and present news. Tavera uses her prints, paintings, installations, and Dia de los Muertos ofrendas, or altars, to explore the way that national and cultural icons symbolize complex identities and can construct shared communities at home and abroad.[2] Her artwork is both humorous and confrontational as she invites her viewers to question constructs of race, gender, ethnicity and national and cultural identities.[3] She has exhibited her artwork and curated shows all around the world, and has artworks permanently installed in several art exhibits throughout Minnesota.[1]

Education and career

In 1990, Tavera earned a B.A. in Spanish and a B.A. in Latin American Studies, from the University of Minnesota.[1] She later achieved a master's degree from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, with an emphasis on Leadership in the Arts.[3]

Tavera currently works at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN, where she serves as the Director for the TRIO-McNair Scholars program, which is a program that helps low income, first-generation and underrepresented students with admission to graduate school.[4] Before working at Augsburg, Tavera founded the Mira Gallery at the Instituto de Cultura y Educacion at El Colegio in South Minneapolis, where she worked for two years curating exhibitions by Latino artists. She has also previously worked as the Community Organizer for Latinos en Accion, a community outreach program that serves the Latinx community in the Twin Cities.[4]

Tavera is the author of the book "Mexican Pulp Art" published in 2007.[5]

Artwork

Tavera is a multidisciplinary artist, who often works with screen printing because of the medium's long history of spreading ideas to the masses.[6] Her work explores how Latinx immigrants are seen and how they want to be seen.[6] Tavera's art focuses on Latinx iconography, symbols, physical traits, and paraphernalia to analyze Latinx ethnicity and culture. Through her art, Tavera aims to make possible conversations about difficult topics for which words don't always exist.[6]

In 2018, her work was featured on the cover and in an artist spotlight in the academic journal, Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Studies Journal, published by the University of Texas Press.[7] Her art works are included in the collections of the Hagfors Center at Augsburg University; the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, MN; the Plains Museum in Fargo, ND; and the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, MN.

La Conneccion/The Connection

In 2021, Tavera created a billboard for display in George Floyd Square as part of the Social Justice Billboard Project.[8] Her billboard titled La Conneccion (The Connection) features an indigenous woman with braids wrapping around images of a bag of groceries, a person wearing a face mask, and a silhouette of a protesting group. The braids connect with an early telephone switchboard. Tavera's billboard is a celebration of how communities are able to move forward by working together.[9]

Curatorial work

Tavera has curated a number of exhibitions in the Twin Cities and beyond. In 2016, she curated an exhibition, entitled "Sus Voces," or "Their Voices," at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, which presented the work of nine women printmakers from Mexico.[10] In 2015, she was instrumental in organizing local galleries and artists to be a part of the Twin Cities Takeover by feminist art and performance group, the Guerrilla Girls.[11] She has additionally curated exhibitions at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Macalester College, and has served as a curatorial panelist for both the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Arts Center.[3]

Interviews
  • 2016: Radio Gallery: Un-Typing Casta, KUMD 103.3 FM[12]
  • 2016: Discovering Your Creative Voice: An interview with artist Tina Tavera[13]
  • 2014: Tina Tavera, In Progress[14]

Exhibitions
Year Exhibition Name Gallery / Museum Location
2022 Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix[15] Minnesota Museum of American Art Saint Paul, MN
Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche and the Conquest of Mexico[16] Denver Art Museum Denver, CO
La Línea[17] Plains Art Museum Fargo, ND
2021 Homeward Bound (solo)[18] Staniar Gallery, Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA
ADVOCATES: Portraits of Activists[19] Minneapolis Public Library Minneapolis, MN
By Return[20] Prøve Gallery Duluth, Minnesota
La Movida/The Hustle (solo) [21] NE Sculpture Garden Minneapolis, MN
2020 Promesas de Papel/Paper Promises (solo)[22] Oglethorpe Museum of Art Atlanta, GA
Prints on Ice[23] Highpoint Center for Printmaking Minneapolis, MN
Fabulista 2[24] NE Sculpture Gallery Minneapolis, MN
Talleres Sin Fronteras[25] Taller Arte de Nuevo Almanecer Woodland, CA
2017 WARHOL: Minnesota Goes Pop[26] Rochester Center Arts Rochester, MN
Latino Art Migration[27] Concordia Art Center Saint Paul, MN
2016 Un-Typing Casta (solo)[28] Tweed Museum Duluth, MN
Reconfiguring Casta (solo)[29] Christiansen Gallery, Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN
2013 Americo: Celebrating the Spirits (solo)[30] Cargill Gallery, Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN

References
  1. "About the Artist: Maria Cristina Tavera". Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  2. "Visualizing women's stories - Minnesota Women's Press". www.womenspress.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  3. "Maria Cristina Tavera - Mn Artists". www.mnartists.org. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  4. "Introducing Tina Tavera, Community Organizer for Latinos En Acción". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  5. Tavera, Maria Cristina (2007). Mexican pulp art. Los Angeles: Feral House. ISBN 1932595228.
  6. Boarini, Cristeta (2020). "Artistry, Scholarship and Identity". Bush Foundation.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "About the Artist: María Cristina Tavera". Diálogo. 21 (1): 113–114. April 11, 2018. doi:10.1353/dlg.2018.0011. ISSN 2471-1039.
  8. "Social Justice Billboard Project". Northeast Sculpture.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Boogren, Jill (July 8, 2021). "Billboards at George floyd square show connection, unity: Social Justice Billboard Project begins as crowd-funded effort". Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Combs, Marianne. "Prints from Mexico shine light on disenfranchised artists". Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  11. "Guerrilla Girls Twin Cities Takeover". mcad.edu. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  12. Jenson, Maija. "Radio Gallery: Un-Typing Casta". Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  13. "Discovering Your Creative Voice: An interview with artist Tina Tavera". Stephen Dupont. September 6, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  14. "Tina Tavera". In Progress. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  15. "Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix". Minnesota Museum of American Art.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche". Denver Art Museum.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "La Línea". Plains Art Museum.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. Turman, Erica (November 3, 2021). "Staniar Gallery Presents 'Homeward Bound'". The Columns.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. "ADVOCATES, Portraits of Activists". Hennepin County Library. October 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. "By Return". PRØVE COLLECTIVE.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. "La Movida/The Hustle By Tina Tavera". Northeast Sculpture.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. "Promesas de Papel/ Paper Promises: Maria Cristina Tavera". OUMA. Retrieved December 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. "Prints on Ice 2020". Highpoint Center for Printmaking.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. "Fabulista 2". Northeast Sculpture.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. "New Exhibition: Talleres Sin Fronteras". TANA.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. Szucs, Suzanne (April 24, 2017). "Minnesota Goes Pop". Mn Artists.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. Dunham, Tad (January 23, 2017). "Concordia Art Gallery Hosts "Latino, Art Migration" Exhibit, Jan. 30-Feb. 24". Concordia University - Saint Paul | University Announcements.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. Gruhlke, Laura. "Un-Typing Casta". The Statesman Archive. Retrieved December 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. "Reconfiguring Casta by Maria Cristina Tavera". Augsburg University. March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. "Free First Saturday: Celebrating the Spirits". Walker Art.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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