José Guadalupe Garza + Miriam Ruiz
Site: El Chico Bakery
José Guadalupe Garza + Miriam Ruiz present a collaborative project in El Chico Bakery, a staple of the Cherokee Street neighborhood for over twenty years. Beyond their role as a panaderia, El Chico serves as willing hosts for countless community convenings for the Latinx community. In recognition of this unique and long-standing position, Garza and Ruiz create a program of artistic interventions in the bakery’s dining area, which often doubles as a gathering space. These interventions, collectively titled Ojalá [God willing], aim to realize the space’s versatility through furniture, a small library, and screenings. The project also hosts a series of public programs that invite dynamic interaction with the space and subsequently document and integrate these interactions as additions to the space itself. Ojalá is thoroughly and unapologetically Mexican-chicanx-latinx in content and aesthetic. The use of Latinx-specifically Mexican-themed literature, imagery, and media centers the interactions and experiences of the community that has overwhelmingly made Cherokee such a rich and unique part of St. Louis.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
José Guadalupe Garza was born along the US/Mexico border. He is a conceptual artist and educator working in a variety of mediums including video, photography, drawing, sculpture and installation. His research examines ways in which Latinx histories and identities are continually constructed and reconstructed in American popular culture. Garza borrows from films, music, literary works, and the science fiction genre to create his reimagined narratives that include appropriated images, film scenes, recorded music, reenactments, improvisation and ready-made objects.
Miriam Ruiz is an interdisciplinary artist, art educator, and curator. She currently works at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis where she facilitates local school and community engagement with the museum. She has a BFA in art education from McKendree University and an MA in Art History, Theory, and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
