Carmen León: Affirmation of cultural heritage and community dedicating murals in Watsonville, CA

Carmen León, artist and educator, painted some of the first murals in Watsonville, CA through the Academia del Arte Chicano de Aztlan and co-founded Galeria Tonantzin, which focused on women’s art. In this interview, León gives some background on two murals in Watsonville made in the mid 1970s by Alex Louis Espinosa with León, Vicky Petrovich and Ingrid (missing surname). She reports that the celebrations for these two murals were especially joyful and community affirming with dancing in the street; however, some negative feedback to the work made her aware that Chicano awareness and pride was still developing in Watsonville. The murals León references are the Mona Lisa Café and Market mural on Rodriguez and West Front streets (restored in 1998 by Yermo Aranda) and the Radcliffe School mural (painted over, unknown date).