Villa, Esteban, 1930-

Born August 3, 1930 in Tulare California, Esteban Villa is a nationally renowned Chicano artist and muralist. He is considered one of Sacramento's most respected artists. Villa is also known as one of the founding members of the Royal Chicano Air Force, an artists' cultural collective created amidst the Chicano movement's battle for social and political rights and recognition.

Villa describes himself as a muralist, printmaker, art educator and community activist. His work sometimes contains surrealist elements through his inclusion and references to such things as the flying jalapen o, flying burrito brothers and tortilla art.

Villa's teaching career began in 1962. He started teaching at the high school level and then took assignments at Washington State University, D-Q University, and University of California, Davis. He is currently Professor Emeritus at California State University Sacramento. He has served as an art consultant to many schools and organizations such as The Royal Chicano Air Force's (RCAF) Centro de Artistas Chicanos, and has done art programs in the prison system. Villa can also be found occasionally performing as a singer and guitarist. The Sacramento Bee once called Villa, "an extraordinary man: a mural artist, musician, teacher and community leader who is known for his barrio art."

From the description of Esteban Villa Papers, 1974-2000. (University of California, Santa Barbara). WorldCat record id: 56343317