Yocelyn Riojas, a Latinx designer and illustrator based in Austin, donated her mural, “Children of the Border,” to the Art Gallery at Rusteberg Hall on the Texas Southmost College campus in Brownsville. The artwork aims to spread hope in times of political turmoil.
Riojas was born in Piedras Negras, Mexico, and was raised in Eagle Pass. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Texas State University.
She, along with a caravan of other artists, came to the Rio Grande Valley over the summer to display their art along the border fence, as a way to support the people and areas impacted by border conflict.
The caravan of 100 artists traveled to the Valley with the goal of enriching the community and encouraging young people in the area to be active leaders.
They worked in collaboration with Jolt, an organization that strives to encourage Latino youth in Texas to be active community members in order to prompt political and social change.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work with Jolt, a civic organization here in Austin,” Riojas said. “Their mission is to create a Latino voice to encourage change in Texas, for youth to be more involved in the political atmosphere or to be more vocal in the community in general, or to influence positive change in the political sphere.”
Before their trip to Brownsville, Jolt and Riojas had already decided the mural would be donated to the university.
“Jolt contacted the university and asked if they would like to host [the mural] and keep it there, and they accepted, so we gifted it to the university,” she said.
“Children of the Border” is painted on tapestry and depicts a group of children looking over the border wall.
The decision to have the children looking over the wall was intentional and solidifies the meaning of the text on the piece, according to Riojas.
“[My] community mural features several children locking arms, looking over the fence instead of looking down behind it, just to [build] the sense of hope,” she said. “The text above it read, ‘They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds,’ which is a popular Mexican proverb.”
Riojas’ art focuses on body confidence, women empowerment, immigration, social justice and other political topics.
“My art has a big focus with immigration, women empowerment, celebration of cultural identity and social justice, along with a lot of political views,” she said. “I’m always aspiring to tell the stories of our people and our community, mostly the Latino community, because that’s what I know.”
Additionally, the purpose of her work is to spread positive ideas rather than hateful messages, such as those seen at marches and rallies.
“My art has always been a matter of creating representation within a positive sense because the media always likes to reflect on the negative things happening,” Riojas said. “We always try to use our art to change the narrative. To always try to make it into a [happier] reflection of things or empower the community, rather than mourn a certain situation and just feel despair over things.”
Riojas is working on new artwork reflecting on the upcoming elections. She also wants the campus community to gain inspiration and hope from the work she donated.
“The message is always just having a sense of hope and to inspire to be more involved and to have an understanding of what is happening in the world and in these communities,” she said.
