Introduction:

Visual art design played a huge role in the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union for the visualization of the farmworkers movement. That art has created a sense of unity among the Mexican community that still resonates until this day since farm workers are still fighting for their essential workers rights. 

Background/Review of the Sources 

In the early 1930s the labor laws were passed in the U.S. However, farmworkers were excluded from some of these laws that protected workers, so farmworkers were deprived from basic worker’s rights such as the right to overtime pay or the right to bargain. In the 1960s the Farmworkers movement was created. It was a labor movement that fought against the discrimination and injustices against farmworkers. Within that movement the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor association was created to organize farmworkers in their fight to labor equality.  Visual art design played an important role in displaying the farmworkers inequality that the UFW was fighting against, as well as a medium to educate others about these labor issues. 

Rationale

I believe this topic is culturally, politically and socially significant because of how art can serve as a medium to bring people together within a socio-political issue. I would be examining how the farmworkers rights movement used visual art as an organizing and communication tool to address the agriculture workers’ rights. Also, how art represents Mexican culture and its resistance against labor exploitation.

Method and design

  • Intro – what was the farmworkers movement (goals) and what was happening in the USA during that time
  • The creation of the UFW 
  • Posters as a tactic. Plan on examining a few specific posters of the UFW. 
  • Newspapers as their source of communication – “El Malcriado”
  • Conclusion: how these visual art influence and inspire today’s Mexican agricultural workers?

References (so far)

Gallardo, Shaden. Female Leaders in Farmworking: The Hidden Figures of the United Farm Workers Movement (1960s-1980s), California State University, Northridge, 2022, https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/5t34ss49v. Accessed 2024. 

RAMALHO, TANIA, and LEAH RUSSELL. “CHAPTER TWO: Learning About the Farmworkers and the Landless Rural Workers Movements Through the Arts.” Counterpoints, vol. 515, 2017, pp. 17–37. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45212249. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.

Temple, Holly Eliza. “Viva La Causa – Mold :: Designing the Future of Food.” MOLD, 13 July 2021, thisismold.com/profile/repast/viva-la-causa. 

“¡Viva La Huelga!: Political-Graphics.” Center for the Study of Political Graphics , www.politicalgraphics.org/viva-la-huelga. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

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