For many Chicanas/Latinas in the professoriate, juggling our careers, community work, and families often proves to be daunting and challenging. In an effort to carve out a space for my own interests,—in between interviews, traveling to [my research site] Litchfield Park (which is twenty-six miles away from my home), organizing events, grant-writing and fundraising, teaching, and writing—I took up oil painting to offset the pressures.
When we honor the history of an individual, of a people, whether through the art of painting or the art of research, we rewrite the narrative and the history of its past. Her [my subject’s] life and mine were intertwined across time and place. She unearthed, not only my creativity, but also the possibilities of creating knowledge.
Excerpt from Cuadráz, Gloria Holguín. 2011. “Unearthing and Recovering Memories in a Company Town: Litchfield Park, Arizona.” Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social 11(1): 10-17.
