Dreaming Nepantla: Exhibition and Symposium on the Art of Santa Barraza

School of Arts, Communication, and Literature at Texas A&M University-Kingsville presents an exhibition and a symposium on the art of Santa Barraza, a nationally renowned artist dealing with themes of borderlands within her work. The project will be the first to present a symposium regarding the work of Barraza, creating new scholarship regarding one of Texas’s leading artists. Barraza has had a fundamental impact on Chicana art over the years, dealing with themes of life along the US border using the language of Mesoamerican and regional folk cultures. This convening program will examine Barraza’s career, between the different periods in her life, and the various series she worked on throughout.

Dreaming Nepantla: A Symposium on the Art of Santa Barraza
Little Theater, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
November 6, 2026

9:00 - 10:45am
Session 1: Situating South Texas
Moderator: Veronica Duran, Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Sonja Gandert, University of Colorado, Boulder
Brenda Sendejo, Independent Scholar and Practitioner
Laura E. Pérez, University of California, Berkeley

11:00 - 12:00pm Discussion

12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch

1:30 - 3:15pm
Session 2: Ancestral Connections
Moderator: Jody Marin, Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Carey Rote, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Kristopher Driggers, San Antonio Museum of Art
Mary Thomas, US Latinx Art Forum

3:30 - 4:30pm Discussion

5:00 - 6:00pm Keynote
Maria Herrera-Sobek, University of California, Santa Barbara