Collection Guide
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Lopez (Yolanda M.) papers
CEMA 11
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Title: Yolanda M. Lopez papers
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 11
Language of Material:
English.
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Physical Description:
10.84 Linear Feet
(18 document boxes, 1 flat oversize box)
Creator:
Lopez, Yolanda M., 1942-2021
Date (inclusive): 1961-2007
Date (bulk): 1961-1998
Abstract: Personal and professional materials generated by artist Yolanda M. Lopez (1942-2021) during the period 1961-1998. The bulk
of the collection consists of incoming personal correspondence from family members and fellow artists.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
The collection is open for research. Selected correspondence files are closed until 2027.
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through
the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to
the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator
and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department
of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of
California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Donated by Yolanda Lopez, December 12, 1996.
[Identification of Item], Yolanda M. Lopez papers, CEMA 11. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Yolanda M. Lopez (1942-2021) was born in San Diego, California in 1942. As the eldest daughter of three, she was raised by
her mother and her mother's parents in the Logan Heights neighborhood.
After graduating high school, Lopez moved to San Francisco and in 1968 participated in the San Francisco State University
Third World Strike. She also worked as a community artist in the Mission District with a group called Los Siete de la Raza.
Since that point she viewed her work as an artist as a tool for political and social change, and saw herself as an artistic
provocateur.
In 1975 Lopez received her B.A. in painting and drawing from San Diego State University and in 1979 went on to get her M.F.A.
in visual arts from the University of California, San Diego. As a visual artist, she is best known for her groundbreaking
Virgin of Guadalupe series, an investigation of the Virgin of Guadalupe as an influential female icon. Her work expanded into
installation, video and slide presentations. Her video,
Images of Mexicans in the Media, toured internationally and is collected in university libraries nationally. Her media series,
Cactus Hearts/Barbed Wire Dreams, has comprised numerous installations, including
Things I Never Told My Son About Being a Mexican, an installation that explores identity, assimilation, and cultural change. The series was part of the major traveling exhibition
La Frontera/The Border: Art About the Mexico/United States Border Experience.
Woman's Work Is Never Done, includes a series of prints, as well as the installation
The Nanny, which explores the invisibility of immigrant women as domestic workers. The installation was showcased in the San Jose Institute
of Contemporary Art's exhibition
Mirror, Mirror...Gender Roles and the Historical Significance of Beauty.
As a scholar as well as an artist, Lopez taught studio classes and lectured on contemporary Chicano art at the University
of California at Berkeley and San Diego. Lopez produced a video,
When You Think of Mexico, on the topic of cultural stereotypes in print and electronic media, and presented the video and accompanying lecture throughout
the West. "It is important for us to be visually literate; it is a survival skill," Lopez stated. "The media is what passes
for culture in contemporary U.S. society, and it is extremely powerful. It is crucial that we systematically explore the cultural
mis-definition of Mexicans and Latin Americans that is presented in the media."
The contents of the Yolanda M. Lopez papers are comprised of both personal and professional materials generated by the artist
during the period 1961-1998. The bulk of the collection consists of incoming personal correspondence from family members and
fellow artists. This includes a large body of correspondence from Analee Lively, Lopez's half-sister, and another large amount
from Rene Yañez, with whom Lopez maintained a relationship starting in the late 1970s. The second largest component of the
collection, the Biographical/Professional Activities series, contains a history of Lopez's professional development through
clippings of media mentions, announcement cards and posters for her exhibits and lectures, and various miscellaneous files
and clippings that relate to her work. The collection also includes several original silkscreens and offset posters, a number
of slides, a personal diary with irregular entries spanning from 1976-1979, and two videocassettes featuring Lopez. The greatest
strengths of the collection are the insight it gives into Lopez's personal and family life (especially in the late 1960s and
1970s), and the record it provides of her professional development and achievements.
"When You Think of Mexico: Commercial Images of Mexicans," written and produced by Yolanda Lopez (1986; running time 28 minutes;
color; in stereo). (UCSB Library, P94.5 M45 L6, 1986)
Two CEMA video collections contain materials pertaining to Lopez. In the Artistas Chicanas Symposium collection, tape one
features Lopez talking about the Virgin of Guadalupe series and other well-known works. (UCSB Library, 6538.M4 A76 1991a)
The Califas Collection contains extensive video footage pertaining to Chicano art in California. (UCSB Library, E184.M5 C2995
1986)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art, American -- California -- 20th century
Mexican American artists -- California
Mexican American women artists -- California
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Diaries
Posters
Screen prints
Slides (photographs)
Videocassettes
Lopez, Yolanda M., 1942- -- Archives