Carrasco, Barbara

Biography / Administrative History

Barbara Carrasco is a painter and muralist in Los Angeles whose work has been important in the development of Chicano art, U.S. contemporary political and public art, and women's cultural production. Her art has been collected in the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.

Between 1976 and 1991, Carrasco worked closely with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW), producing graphic arts, banners, and murals that were an integral part of the union's activities.

In the early 1980's, Carrasco was at the center of an intense battle over artistics censorship with the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, which refused to exhibit her portable mural "L.A. History -- A Mexican Perspective".

Carrasco's other murals include the centerpiece for Luis Valdez's play, Zoot Suit (1978), and a computer animation "mural" on pesticides displayed on the big screen monitor in Times Square.

From the guide to the Barbara Carrasco papers, ca. 1971-1997, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)