Centro Cultural de la Raza.

The Centro Cultural de la Raza was established as an artists' multi-disciplinary collective in 1970. This non-profit, San Diego-based Chicano /Latino cultural arts organization was founded during a period of great activism and social unrest. For three decades it has functioned as an alternative program to facilitate and encourage artistic growth and cultural interchange.

The Centro's cultural activities have encompassed drama, music, poetry, arts and crafts, Mexican folkloric and Aztec dances, and mural art programs. It was a dynamic center of indigenism in the early years of the Aztlan phase of Chicano art (1970-1975), owing to the influence of Alurista.

From the description of Centro Cultural de la Raza Archives, 1970 -1999 . (University of California, Santa Barbara). WorldCat record id: 213894560

Organization History

El Centro Cultural de la Raza is a Chicano Cultural Center founded in 1970 in San Diego, as an alternative program to encourage and facilitate artistic growth and cultural interchange in the San Diego communities. It is currently a member of the American Association of Museums.

Centro Cultural has given birth to many artistic groups, such as MALAF, the Mexican American Liberation Art Front, and Teatro Mestizo. It also provides art classes and drama, music, dance and arts and crafts Presentations, many of which have origins in Mexico and "Aztlán," a term used by Chicanos to indicate the American Southwest. Tours and presentations have been designed to give background on various cultural activities. The Centro's circular building has offices and workrooms, studios, a theater, and much wall space for mural projects. It is one of the largest Chicano cultural arts buildings in the Southwest.

The cultural center supports and encourages the creative expression "of those people who are indigenous to the border region." Although established in 1970, its origins stem to the mid to late 1960's, when local Chicano artists were becoming aware that they needed a place where they could develop and preserve the contributions and ideologies of San Diego's native population. Those active in forming the center and the organization of Los Toltecas en Aztlán, the organizing body of the center, were Salvador Torres, Guillermo Aranda, Ruben de Anda, Mario Acevedo, Victor Ochoa, David Avalos, the Enrique Family, the Delia Moreno Family, and others. Though much of the formative years of the center's philosophy and ideology began in the mid 60's, the center's official inauguration was in July 1970 when the city of San Diego allowed Torres and company to locate the cultural center in Balboa Park. Through much political and social opposition in the 1970's due to subject matter of murals and debate on the question of where they would be based, the cultural center endured and became very strong with the backing of its community members.

As a cultural center, it not only promoted creative expression in art and formal art classes, but also included in its busy seven day-a-week schedule workshops in danza folklorica, interpretive dance, music, theatre, sculpture, and a multidisciplinary 'Tolteca' class. These classes were the basis of all activities that took place, as education of and for the border culture was important to the Toltecas en Aztlán. Closely related are the multi-media events that took place. These events incorporated music, dance and poetry to generate traditional and indigenous Mexican theatrical motifs.

Groups that formed through the work of the Center include: Ballet Folklorico in Aztlán, founded by Herminia Enrique;Congreso de Artistas Chicanos en Aztlán, founded by Salvador Torres;and Trio Moreno, a musical group

From the guide to the Centro Cultural de la Raza Archives, 1970-1999, (University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections, California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives)