UCSB ADDS VASQUEZ PAPERS TO ETHNIC ARCHIVES

Artist Emigdio Vasquez has added his personal papers to the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. CEMA's archivists collect primary resource materials, such as the personal papers of Vasquez, to ensure that future scholars researching the history of 20th century California will have access to information on the experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicano/Latinos, and Native Americans.

"I found out about CEMA through Maria Herrera-Sobek (the Luis Leal Endowed Chairholder at UCSB)," said Vasquez. "I felt that this would be an appropriate place for my papers."

Vasquez, an Orange, Calif.-based painter and muralist, is recognized as one of the pioneering artists in the Chicano art movement. His works are held in numerous collections including the Laguna Beach Museum of Art, the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, Calif. and the Hunt-Wesson Foods Corporate Collection. Among the 22 murals he has created in Orange County are an 85-foot piece at the Orange County Transportation Center in Santa Ana, Calif. and another commissioned by Disney for the Magic Kingdom's Lawry Food Center

Included in CEMA's Chicano/Latino component are the papers of Oscar Zeta Acosta, author of "Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo" (1972) and "The Revolt of the Coackroach People" (1973); Luis Valdez, founder of El Teatro Campesino and author of "Zoot Suit"; and poet and writer Ana Castillo, who received the 1993 Carl Sandburg Literary Award in Fiction for the novel titled "So Far From God."

Photos Available Upon Request