2009 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship
Community Events at Metro State
Join Metropolitan State College of Denver for the 2009 Castro Professorship
Theme: Continuing a Legacy of Social Change
Featuring
Delilah Montoya* - Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Houston
Delilah Montoya is an artist and educator. Her work, grounded in the mestizo/a experience of the Southwest and borderlands, brings together a multiplicity of syncretic forms and practices from those of Aztec Mexico and Spain to cross-border vernacular traditions all of which are shaded by contemporary Native American customs and values. Her work explores the unusual relationships that result from negotiating different strategies of understanding and representing the rich ways of life and thought found in the Southwest.
Montoya’s numerous projects investigate cultural experiences. Whether investigating spiritual rituals or questioning gender traditions, she always addresses and often confronts viewers’ assumptions.
*Each event will feature a different component of Delilah Montoya’s work. Her 10’ x 8’ Photo Mural, “La Llorona in Lilith’s Garden” will be on display beginning in late September through the closing reception at the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services, 1033 Ninth Street Park.
All events free and open to the public. To RSVP to any event or to find out more information, please contact Mercedes Salazar - msalaz27@mscd.edu or 303-556-3124.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Bienvenida/Welcome VIP Reception
Sunday, October 11, 2009, 6:00-8:00 pm.
Colorado History Museum 1300 Broadway, Denver, Colorado
Welcome by Dr. Antonio Esquibel Metropolitan State College of
Denver Board of Trustee Member and Professor Emeritus of Spanish
Special recognitions: Virginia Castro, Senators Paul and Paula Sandoval, Castro Elementary and Mannie and Corinne Rodriguez
Music: Debajo Del Agua
Hosted: Colorado History Museum and Chicana/o Studies Department
Monday October 12, 2009 – All events in St. Cajetan’s on the Auraria Campus
Richard T. Castro Campus Involvement Day
9:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
10:00 a.m. Keynote Address by Professor Delilah Montoya
11:30 a.m. Luncheon and Entertainment
4:00 p.m. Codex Delilah, Six Deer: Journey from Mexicatl to Chicana” Professor Montoya will discuss her work with students from “La Chicana” and the session is open to the public. Within the framework of a feminist vision, The Codex Delilah: A Journey From Mexicatl to Chicana approaches the Spanish/Indian encounter from a mestizaje perspective. As a Chicana, Montoya is conscious of how the historical contributions of women have been undermined or completely ignored. This project attempts to correct that injustice by rethinking the traditional interpretation of the European/ Native Encounter. The narrative of this artist book is viewed from the perspective of Six Deer, a fictional young Mayatec girl from the Tutuepec region near present-day Mexico City. From her home to the nuclear weapons laboratories in New Mexico, the codex details Six Deer's journey of enlightenment.
Monday, October 12, 2009 – Evening Event
“Sed: The Trail of Thirst”
7:00 p.m. King Center 213** (Location Change)
Lecture Hosted by Professor Carlos Fresquez’ -Contemporary Chicano/a Art class lecture
(space for 25 more people, open to public, but seating is first come, first serve)
This installation depicts the perilous migration route across the Arizona Sonora desert and the omnipresent thirst for water experienced by migrants during their clandestine border crossings. This cultural landscape represents “a contemporary middle passage,” where between 1996 and 2004, more than 3,000 migrants perished along the border. Sed: The Trail of Thirst honors the courage of the migrant experience and those who have sought to provide the migrants with aid by establishing the controversial mini-oases scattered throughout the region.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 – Tivoli Student Union #440
Richard T. Castro Symposium
10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Panel of Associates who worked with Richard T. Castro on his legacy of Social Change
11:30am -Lunch
1:00 p.m. Professor Delilah Montoya “Reflections on Continuing a Legacy of Social Change”
4:00 p.m.-5:15 p.m. Advanced Photo Class-Critique
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - Tivoli 320
“Jimenez’s Misteño - The Denver Mustang”
11:30 a.m. -12:45 p.m.: “Brown Bag Lecture” Professor Montoya will discuss her research and writing on Luis Jimenez’s controversial Blue Mustang at the Denver International Airport.
Closing Reception/Despedida- Institute for Women’s Studies and Services
3:00-5:00pm (1033 Ninth Street Park)
Highlighting Montoya’s art piece “La Llorona in Lilith’s Garden” in the new More Than Muses Feminist Art Gallery.
The Castro Professorship
The Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship was initiated in 1997 to foster multiculturalism, diversity and academic excellence at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The professorship brings renowned Latina and Latino scholars, artists and leaders of distinction to Metro State to conduct classes, seminars, performances and lectures for students, faculty and the larger Denver community. Richard T. Castro Distinguished Professors have included the following luminaries:
• Cherrie Moraga, playwright, poet, essayist and educator
• Carlos Fuentes, novelist and diplomat
• Carmen Lomas Garza, artist and author
• Anna Castillo, novelist and poet
• Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers vice president
• Richard “Cheech” Marin, actor and art collector
About Richard T. Castro
A Champion of the Disenfranchised
Richard T. Castro (1946-1991), educational and civil rights activist, was one of Colorado’s true champions of disenfranchised communities. From a young street social worker in the early 1970s to executive director of Denver’s civil rights agency, Castro was known as a fighter for human justice and dignity. At 25, Castro became one of the youngest lawmakers ever elected to the House of Representatives, a post he held for five terms. Castro led many struggles for social justice, including opposition to English-only legislation. He was a leading spokesperson in the debate on Mexican immigration. A bust commemorating Castro, sculpted by noted Denver artist Emanuel Martinez, sits in the rotunda of the state capitol.
An Activist at Metro State
Castro was an early instructor in what would become the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at Metro State. He was an outspoken leader on the importance of education to meet the needs of a culturally diverse population.
A Denver native, Castro received his bachelor’s degree from Metro State and his master’s degree in community organization from the University of Denver. While working his way through DU, he taught part-time at Metro State and was a youth counselor. He was a student activist with such organizations as the Displaced Aurarians and the United Farm Workers. During that time, Castro was arrested after intervening when police allegedly beat a Latino youth. The incident sparked an intense awareness of relations between the police and the Latino population. Throughout this incident and others like it, Castro advocated change through education and politics, rather than violence.
Castro once said, “Education’s role in our society cannot be minimized...It is quite probably the most critical investment a people can make.”
The Richard T. Castro Professorship illustrates how Metro State continues to build on its multicultural heritage and commitment to diversity. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color of all the four-year colleges and universities in the state.
The College has set a goal of becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, with 25 percent of its enrollment Hispanic. Metro State’s leadership team mirrors the diversity of the Denver community and the College is on its way to meeting its goal of recruiting more minority faculty and staff.
For information please contact Mercedes Salazar 303-556-3124 or msalaz27@mscd.edu.
Would you like to learn more about Metropolitan State College of Denver?