Experiencer', reporter, analyst, activist: Audience/community participation in the art practices of four Chicano/a artists

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79)This thesis analyzes how audience/community participation is integrated into the work of four renowned contemporary Chicano artists by specifically examining their creative methods. My research expands the theories of Suzanne Lacy and Suzi Gablik in Mapping the Terrain to include community engagement as global to the artistic process. I apply Lacy's model of artist as "experiencer," reporter, analyst or activist to the work of Chicano/a aitists Gronk, Wayne Healy, Linda Vallejo and George Yepes. I further argue that what Suzi Gablik analyzed as empathy for the audience or community leads these artists to develop specific socio-artistic practices and provide services they wished they had during their youth or formative years. This examination relies on personal interviews and observation, statements from the artists, biographical literature, research and visual information as evidence to support my thesis. My contribution to the field of Chicano scholarship is based in Lacy and Gablik's humanistic analysis rather than the traditional political approach to Chicano artist's role in the community. Furthermore, the four artists analyzed in this paper were established at the beginning of the Chicano Art Movement and significantly exemplify the evolution of audience/community engagement in Chicano art