Guide to the Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection MSS.2005.11.01
Elizabeth Lopez
Finding aid funded by the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
Spanish; Castilian
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2005.11.01
Physical Description:
13 folders
(192 posters)
Date (inclusive): 1971-2005
Abstract: The Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection consists of 192 posters for community-based programs and events held by the
city of Sacramento and students from California State University, Sacramento.
Language of Material: Posters are in English and Spanish.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Ricardo Favela has assigned copyright to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives where he is
the copyright holder. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the
Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the
owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital
files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection, MSS-2005-11-15, San José State University Library Special Collections
& Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid EAD encoded by Elizabeth Lopez in 2009. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant
project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008. The Project Director
is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Organizational History
The Royal Chicano Air Force is an artistic collective based in Sacramento. Initially named the Rebel Chicano Art Front, the
RCAF was founded in 1969 to express the goals of the Chicano civil rights and labor organizing movement of the United Farm
Workers. Its mission was to make available to the Chicano community a bilingual/bicultural arts center where artists could
come together, exchange ideas, provide mutual support, and make available to the public artistic, cultural, and educational
programs and events.
The founding members of the RCAF include José Montoya, Esteban Villa, Juanishi V. Orosco, Ricardo Favela, and Rudy Cuellar.
Montoya and Villa knew of each other through their involvement in the Mexican American Liberation Art Front and the California
College of Arts and Crafts. During the Chicano Movement students pressured colleges and universities to diversify their faculties.
As a result, Montoya and Villa were hired as professors of art at California State University, Sacramento. Their academic
positions gave them the creative freedom to initiate programmatic exchanges between the university and the barrio community.
Through this effort they initiated many programs including the Barrio Art Program, which required university students to go
out into the community including senior centers to teach art courses.
In 1972 the RCAF created the not-for-profit Centro De Artistas Chicanos, a community based organization, which became the
spring-board for all types of Sacramento community programs, such as La Nueva Raza Bookstore (with its Galería Posada), Aeronaves
de Aztlán (Automotive Repair Garage), RCAF Danzantes (Cultural Dance venue), Barrio Art Program, and the RCAF Graphics and
Design Center. By 1977, the Centro de Artistas Chicanos and Breakfast for Niños Program (a community non-profit program that
fed children before school) joined forces to create the Cultural Affairs Project, which further funded their many community
services.
The RCAF is best known for its mural paintings, poster art production, and individual artistic contributions. The artists
of the Centro have produced murals and exhibitions from San Diego to Seattle. The success of the RCAF to engage communities
to express their Chicano culture, history and struggle for equal rights, is a testament to the spirit of the collective and
it's significance in the Chicano community and in American society.
While the "RCAF" originally stood for the Rebel Chicano Art Front, people confused the letters with the acronym for the Royal
Canadian Air Force. Montoya and his fellow officers capitalized on the misunderstanding, and in good humor adopted the name
Royal Chicano Air Force. This new identity found its way into their wardrobe, as well as their highly successful silk screen
poster program, which began to disseminate the World War I aviator and brainstorming bi-winged planes as icons. The RCAF gained
a well-deserved reputation for outrageous humor, fine art posters, murals, and community activism. Their pioneering spirit
throughout the 1970s and early 1980s was well-known in the California Chicano community, and continues to the present.
Bibliography: Royal Chicano Air Force. The RCAF Homepage. http://www.rcaf.info/ (accessed April 1, 2009).
Scope and Content
The Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force collection was donated by artist and activist, Ricardo Favela in 2005. The Royal
Chicano Air Force (RCAF) , a Sacramento-based Chicano artist collective, was established in 1969 by José Montoya, Esteban
Villa, Juanishi Orosco, Ricardo Favela, and Rudy Cuellar. The collection consist of 192 posters produced by the founding members,
as well as posters by Xico González and Manuel Rios dating 1971- 2005 (bulk 1974-1980). The collection represents the 40 years
of poster art production by the RCAF.
The RCAF Poster Collection primarily consists of announcement posters for community-based programs and events held by the
community of Sacramento and students at the California State University, Sacramento. These posters reflect the historical,
cultural, and political expressions of the Chicano community in Sacramento. Other posters in the collection include posters
from two calendar series,
Calendario de Comida [Calendar of Food] and
Calendario de Amor [Calendar of Love] , which promote Chicano culture and history and a series of posters sponsored by the California State
Department of Mental Health.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series: Series I: Announcement Posters, 1974-2005; Series II: Calendars, 1976 and 1978;
Series III: California State Department of Mental Health Posters, 1981.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mexican American artists -- California
Mexican American posters
Royal Chicano Air Force -- Posters
Mexican American art
Favela, Ricardo
Series I. Announcement Posters
1974-2005
Scope and Contents
This series consists of announcement posters for community-based programs and events held by the community of Sacramento and
students at the California State University, Sacramento.
Arrangement
This series is arranged alphabetically by artist's last name.
Folder 1
3rd East Yolo Concilio Baile,
Folder 1
Bailen con los Elegantes,
Folder 1
Benefit Dance Sociedad Guadalupana,
Folder 1
Bilingual Education Says Twice as Much,
Folder 1
In the Country Workshops (DQU),
Folder 1
La Carpa de los Rasquachis,
Folder 1
Mercado de las Flores Lowrider Show,
Folder 1
Mexican American Awards Night CUNA,
Folder 2
Dance Benefit for Yes on 14,
Folder 2
Dia de las Madres button prints,
Folder 2
Dia de las Madres Celebración,
Folder 2
El Partido de la Raza Unida Benefit Dance,
Folder 2
El Shorty Penney de Dina,
Folder 2
In Search of Mr. Con Safos,
Folder 2
¡Justicia para los Campesinos! No Compren en Safeway,
Folder 2
Student Development Center,
Folder 2
Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros
Folder 3
7th Annual Operation X-Mas Unity,
Folder 3
8 Días del Mundo Chicano,
Folder 3
Breakfast for Niños at Curbstone
Folder 3
Comprehensive Youth Program
Folder 3
International Women's Year
Folder 3
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Folder 3
Operation Christmas Unity
Folder 3
Rally March for Narciso Perez
Folder 3
Salsa Series Dance # Four
Folder 3
A Tribute to José Guadalupe Posada
Folder 4
1st Annual Dolores Huerta Activitst Recognition Dinner
Folder 4
2nd Annual Dolores Huerta Activist Recognition Dinner
Folder 4
2nd Annual César Chávez Day
Folder 4
Cinco de Mayo: Feria de la Primavera
Folder 4
Diga ¡No! a la Prop. 54 / Vote No on Prop.54
Folder 4
Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Art Exhibition
Folder 4
We Want You To Join The Brown Syndicate (El Sindicato)
drawer 05-15, Folder 5
González, Xico (Spray Paint posters)
Folder 5
EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional)
Folder 5
¡Vive la Intafada! Free Palestine
Folder 6
Viva la Huelga, Viva la Causa
Folder 6
¡Celebracion Cinco de Mayo!
Folder 6
Muchisimas Gracias to the City
Folder 6
3rd Annual Raza Legal Info[rmation] Conf[erence]
Folder 6
Image J.A.L.A.(Jobs in Action for Latin Americans)
Folder 6
RCAF Royal Chicano Air Force
Folder 6
American-Mexican War Veterans
Folder 6
Tesoros de la Raza - Folk Art of Mexico
Folder 6
10th Annual Junta del Nopal
Folder 6
Feliz Cumpleaños Abuelita Querida
Folder 6
Música, Locura, Comida y Mas! para la Gente
Folder 6
Cinco de Mayo Semana de la Raza
Folder 6
M.A.P.A. Mexican American Political Association
Folder 7
First Annual Indian American-Chicano Unity
Folder 7
El Centro de Artistas Chicanos
Folder 7
Cesar E. Chavez Unity March
Folder 7
50 años - 50th Anniversary Washington Barrio Center
Folder 8
1st Annual Mexican American Hall of Fame
Folder 8
2nd Annual Mexican American Hall of Fame
Folder 8
Dedication of the New Washington School
Folder 8
Día de los Muertos Art Show
Folder 8
Mujeres en Careers Symposium
Folder 8
Need Assistance in Landlord Tenant Rights?
Folder 8
Programa Educativo Vocacional
Folder 8
Progreso New Year's Dance
Folder 8
Royal Chicano Air Force Band
Folder 8
Solidaridad con la Union de Campesinos
Folder 9
WNC [Washington Neighborhood Center]
Folder 10
Cannery Workers Committee
Folder 10
Chicanos 1st Annual Film Series
Folder 10
Chicano Chrismes Art Sale
Folder 10
Environmental Open House Festival
Folder 10
Galeria Posada Sacra Prints
Series II. Calendars
1976 & 1978
Subseries Scope and Content Summary
This series includes posters from two calendar series,
Calendario de Comida [Calendar of Food] and
Calendario de Amor [Calendar of Love].
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically.
Folder 12
Para mis Jefitas Since the Dawn of Time from Calendario de Comida 1976,
Folder 12
Hijos de la gran Tortilla, from Calendario de comida 1976,
Folder 12
Yerbabuena, I Know, from Calendario de comida 1976
Folder 12
The Last Papa with the Big Potatoe [sic], from Calendario de Comida 1976
Folder 12
Chicana, from Calendario de Comida 1976
Folder 12
La Carmen Por Vida, from Calendario de Amor
Series III. California State Department of Mental Health Posters
1981
Scope and Contents
This series includes a series of posters sponsored by the California State Department of Mental Health.
Arrangement
This series is arranged alphabetically by artist's last name.
Folder 13
Hazlo [Do It] for Better Mental Health
