Joel Garcia
| Joel Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 (age 48–49) Los Angeles, California |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 🌐 Website | rageoneart |
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Joel Garcia (born 1977) is an Indigenous artist, cultural worker, and arts administrator based in East Los Angeles, California.
Art career
Joel Garcia (Huichol/Wixárika) is an Indigenous artist, cultural organizer, educator, curator, co-founder, and Director of Meztli Projects.[1], an Indigenous-based arts & culture collaborative centering Indigeneity into the creative practice of Los Angeles and supporting the creative development of Native and Indigenous artists. He has worked with Indigenous communities across borders in various artistic roles to support land, access, and self-determination issues. His art explores healing and reconciliation, as well as memory and place[2], garnering national press in publications such as the LA Times[3], The New Yorker[4], and Artforum[5], among others.
Through his work with Meztli Projects in Los Angeles (Tovangaar), he has helped create a nurturing ecosystem of support for Native and Indigenous creatives that centers on Indigenous-based cultural practices and knowledge-building efforts[6]. This work has resulted in formal and informal policy changes for artist funding, civic/public art[7], and other issues directly impacting Indigenous communities, specifically First Peoples[8] (Tongva, Tataviam, Chumash and Acjachemen).
He’s a former Stanton Fellow[9] through the Durfee Foundation and formerly an artist-in-residence and fellow at Monument Lab ('19 and '22)[10], and co-facilitator of the Intercultural Leadership Institute ('21-'23) which proposes to hold space for cultural production outside of white supremacist frameworks, OXY ARTS[11], and other acclaimed projects.
Joel is a former co-director of Self Help Graphics & Art (2010-2018), helping to revitalize the acclaimed arts organization, which resulted in securing a home for the Chicano non-profit[12]. He designed and launched new programs such as The Printmaking Summit, and projects that have been highlighted nationally in support of artists, street vendors[13], and vulnerable communities[14]
Joel has also taught at ArtCenter College of Design and Occidental College.
Artworks and creative projects
Joel's art has ranged from album covers for musicians such as The Black Keys[15] and Chicano Batman, to poster designs for social justice causes like the Dolores Huerta Foundation and The California Partnership for the Future of Learning[16], to augmented reality projects that tell a more authentic history of Los Angeles[17]. His print works, installations, and natural dye-based paintings have been exhibited in sites like the Centro de Artes Gallery[18], San Antonio, Texas, OXY ARTS[19] at Occidental College, Los Angeles, and Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University, Orange, California, the Merced Multicultural Arts Center in Merced, California, Chinese American Museum[20] in Los Angeles and other museums, and private & public galleries.
Several of his creative actions in support of Indigenous communities and other targeted populations[21] have led to the removal of hateful monuments[22][23] and raised awareness of critical issues.
Selected curated exhibitions:
- The Iridescence of Knowing at OXY ARTS. Co-curated with Mercedes Dorame
- Refractions, Contemporary Indigenous Art at the Annenberg Community Beach House
- Tobacco Embers at Avenue 50 Studio
- Waning Crescent: a meztli projects group show at OXY ARTS
Other media
- Counter-Memories: Joel Garcia & Paul Holdengräber
References
- ↑ "Meztli Projects". Meztli Projects. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Joel Garcia on Finding Harmony in Public Space". Columbia GSAPP Soundcloud. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "As statues of oppressors toppled around L.A., Meztli Projects emerged to uplift Indigenous artists". LATIMES. November 4, 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "The New Monuments That America Needs". The New Yorker. September 15, 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Monument Lab". Art Forum. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "IndigenARTS & Wellness Heals East L.A. Communities Through Indigenous Traditions". PBS SoCal. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "City Hall murals will be "recontextualized" in new plan". Santa Monica Daily Press. February 23, 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "'We're sorry': L.A. moves to make amends for wrongs committed against Indigenous people". LATIMES. October 11, 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Announcing the 2023-2024 Stanton Fellows". The Durfee Foundation. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Joel Garcia". Monument Lab. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "OXY ARTS Announces Encoding Futures, a Two-Part Exhibition at Occidental and Citywide". OXY ARTS. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Self Help Graphics & Art secures a permanent home in Boyle Heights". LATIMES. April 27, 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Self Help Graphics project empowers day laborers through art". LATIMES. April 4, 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "In wake of Trump's DACA decision, L.A.'s Self-Help Graphics sets up poster pop-up for tips for immigrants". LATIMES. September 6, 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Amoeba Music". Amoeba Music. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Health is a Human Right: Achieving Health Equity". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "AIR 2022 – AR". Art In Residence. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ↑ "XicanX: New Visions". Contemporary Art Month. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Waning Crescent: a meztli projects group show". OXY ARTS. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Dreams Deferred". LATACO. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "A World Series Trans Pride Banner Drop Gave the TransLatin@ Coalition a Chance to Raise Its Voice". Teen Vogue. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "Columbus Statue Comes Down in Grand Park". NBC LA. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "At Los Angeles toppling of Junipero Serra statue, activists want full history told". LATIMES. June 20, 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
External links
- Joel Garcia, artist portfolio
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