Martha Ramirez-Oropeza (born 1952) is a muralist, painter, theater performer, and researcher known for her work on the pre-Hispanic
Nahuatl culture.[1]
Early life and education
Martha Ramirez-Oropeza was born in
Delicias, Chihuahua,
Mexico and her parents were migrant farmworkers.[2] Due to this, she continuously traveled from
Delicias to
Colusa, California.[2] She worked with her family in the fields picking prunes at a young age.[2] Her family eventually settled down in
Pacoima which is a neighborhood in
Los Angeles.[3] She experienced discrimination by a teacher that washed her mouth with soap after speaking Spanish when she was in second grade.[2][3][4] These experiences then lead her to partake in the
Chicano Movement, a hunger strike for the
United Farmworkers Union, creating anti-war posters, and planning and paintings murals.[2]
Ramirez-Oropeza co-founded the Universidad Nahuatl De Ocotepec, located in
Ocotepec, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. One motivation to co-found this university was resistance to the discrimination she and many have experienced.[6] She has been a coordinator for the university and was a professor teaching Nahuatl philosophy for 13 years.[5][6] Her scholarly work and art continued in California at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and
Social and Public Art Resource Center.[1] At UCLA, Ramirez-Oropeza teaches courses in Chicano/a Studies and Art.[7]
She is considered an expert on the
Day of the Dead ritual because she has dedicated many years to research about it, despite not growing up with the tradition.[8] At SPARC, she is an Artist in Residence, and she partners with SPARC to lead the Day of the Dead Ritual yearly.[1][8][9]
She is also a performing arts teacher at Edison Language Elementary.[1]
Art and exhibitions
Ramirez-Oropeza began drawing and creating art at a young age to escape her reality.[4] At the age of 18, she made the decision to move back to Mexico and develop her art.[4] In Mexico, she developed her skills under the guidance of muralist
David Alfaro Siquieros.[4] In this apprenticeship, she collaborated with him on the mural Patricios y Patricidas.[4] Ramirez-Oropeza has also collaborated with Chicana muralist
Judith Baca in a project titled The World Wall.[4]
Ramirez-Oropeza has painted a variety of murals in both the United States and Mexico.[1] In 2004, she was a recipient of an Award that was funded by the Durfee Foundation.[10]
Martha painted the mural in 1989 after being reached out by
MEChA members from the University of Oregon.[11] The purpose of the mural was to preserve the Chicano Movement history.[11] Martha includes the history of Aztecs, Mestizos, and Chicanos to remind people about the roots of Chicanos.[11]
"Tlazolteotl: Creative Force of the Un-Woven" Mural by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza & Patricia Quijano. The mural was part of "The World Wall: A Vision of the World Without Fear" event in Mexico.[14][15][16]
Martha Ramirez-Oropeza collaborated with Patricia Quijano on this mural which was part of an event that Judith Baca invited them to, organized by SPARC.[16] This exhibit is a travel installation mural and both artists painted the mural in 1999, but it was revealed in 2001.[16] The inspiration for the mural was mother earth, because she regenerates and heals everything and everyone.[16] Both artists wrote a poem after finishing the mural that reflected their feelings about it.[15]
Further reading
"The Toltec I Ching" – Written by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza & William Douglas Horden
"Huehuepohualli: Counting the Ancestors' Heartbeat" by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza
"Mikamoxtzin, Little Book of The Day of the Dead Ritual / El Librito del Ritual del Dia de Muertos" – Co-Authors: Martha Ramirez-Oropeza & Alicia Valencia Reyes