The art of the border

A UTRGV graduate student has created Resistencia Fronteriza, a series of events focused on border activism through art with the help of the Presidential Research Fellowship award from the university.

Michel Flores Tavizón, a graduate student in studio art and a former graphics editor of Pulse magazine at UTRGV, is the creator of the project.

“Resistencia Fronteriza is a project I started as part of the Presidential Research Fellowship Award [at UTRGV],” Flores Tavizón said. “I am doing a series of events and workshops. So, this semester, I am doing this thing that is open to the public.”

Students who receive the fellowship award are expected to maintain a high level of performance in their courses and in the research project done under faculty guidance, according to the Graduate Student Support Programs. The programs require the awardee to defend a thesis in the case of a master’s degree, or a dissertation, in the case of a doctorate.

Recipients receive one year of support from a teaching assistantship and one year of support from a research assistantship, with a stipend of up to $15,000 per year, according to the program website.

To qualify, students must first be accepted into one of the College of Science’s graduate programs and have demonstrated outstanding achievement in their application. This can be documented through prior research experience leading to academic outcomes, such as publications, awards, presentations or prior academic performance.

La Unión del Pueblo Entero and Resistencia Fronteriza organized an information session on the current situation on the border and colonias, followed by a zine workshop Oct. 21 at LUPE Headquarters in San Juan.

Flores Tavizón said Ramiro Gonzalez, LUPE communications coordinator, helped her organize the event.

“So I was like, ‘Hey, I want to host this event. I don’t want to only do workshops. I would like to do something like an information session,’” she said. “I feel like there are a lot of things happening at the border. And I feel like a lot of people don’t realize it.”

Flores Tavizón said that being from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, the border is present in her life as she constantly crosses it, but not for many people.

“And even though I’m from Matamoros … I knew there was a problem, but I didn’t know the magnitude of the situation,” she said. “So, this is merging my two passions, which is art and border activism.”

Sergio Treviño, communications manager at LUPE, began the informative session by saying art is a way to share a person’s story.

“Sometimes it can say things that we just can’t put into words,” Treviño said. “It’s a reminder that we all have something to say when it comes to the world we live in. Often, we have to be the heroes of our own story.”

Attendees had the opportunity to participate in different discussions during the session.

Treviño asked the attendees what a colonia is.

Lilia Cabrera, an art education lecturer at UTRGV, said colonias are more than just low-income areas.

Treviño said he grew up in a neighborhood and saw the problems people had.

“One of the things I remember more than anything is not having access to paved streets and sometimes having to go to the end of the colonia because the bus couldn’t enter,” he said. “There were wells and it was very ugly.”

Treviño said since 2016, LUPE began working with Hidalgo County to light the streets of colonias that have existed for more than 30 years.

“Three years ago, the commissioners said, ‘No, we can only light two neighborhoods. We don’t have enough money,’” he said. “And this year, they are lighting more than 10 colonias. And one of the colonias that was lit up this year … is the Flaco Chiquito, which is in Alton.”

Treviño said that Flaco Chiquito is one of the largest colonias in Hidalgo County. The residents fought for more than 20 years to be able to light the colonia.

He said LUPE continued to work with residents of colonias, such as Iowa Gardens, Flaco Chiquito and Eduardo 2, to improve their quality of life.

“They could not continue living in those conditions and they joined together here in LUPE and joined with other members of other organizations,” Treviño said. “All this work was because they decided they were not going to give up.”

At the end of the information session with LUPE, each attendee created a small book displaying a topic related to a border issue.

“This activity allows everyone to contribute their perspective, such as what immediately affects them and how they can communicate their concerns,” Cabrera said. “It’s an opportunity for them to isolate their concerns and say, ‘This is what I think is important,’ or they can go a step further and say, ‘What’s the most important concern I can contribute to?’”

Border Resistance will host an open community poetry event and screenprint workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Cactus Valley Art & Supply Co. in Harlingen.

During an interview with The Rider, Flores Tavizón said that the event’s limit is 10 people.

“The screenprint and poetry workshop is already full,” she said. “I’m planning to do another workshop next semester, and then an exhibition showing the results of those workshops.”

Unfolded Poetry Project, a nonprofit poetry project focused on the individual voice, will be facilitating poetry during the event and UTRGV art alumna Cecilia Sierra will lead the screenprinting workshop.

Participants will learn the basics of screenprinting and create their own poetry-inspired prints.

For more information on the fellowships, visit the UTRGV College of Science website.