On Tuesday night, Diversity and Inclusion put on Pilots Paint for Latinx Heritage Month. Students had the opportunity to create art inspired by the painting “Manacá” by Tarsila do Amaral, a Brazilian female artist. The event was in collaboration with Mesa Redonda and Women of Color.
Taryn Strong and Vanessa Gonzalez pose with their artwork.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Vanessa Gonzalez, Sociology Criminology
“For this painting, I really liked it because of all the colors, so I tried to put as much color in it because to me color means happy.”
Taryn Strong, Communications
“From this painting, I think you can see art in anything. Mine is abstract.”
Claire Matanguihan and Alec Matanguihan present their final paintings.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Claire Matanguihan, Social Work
“This painting, just like they explained I feel like identifies with the Latinx community and I’m in full support of that. I think this is really peaceful and tranquil and this is a reflection of how I am right now.”
Alec Matanguihan, Biology
“Honestly my painting is more like the ocean. It’s dark, and I decided to put waves. It’s like back home, in Guam where the ocean is.”
Caroline Coates and Marlee Bennett show their final paintings inspired by the work of Tarsila do Amaral.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Caroline Coates, Nursing
“My painting was very therapeutic. I just kept going. It was like a therapeutic painting session.”
Marlee Bennett, Elementary Education
“Mine means: flowers.”
Jizelle Castaneda smiles with her final painting. She enjoyed the opportunity to relax and paint.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Jizelle Castaneda, Biology
“It was just cool to get to paint. It was fun and relaxing I guess. I think it’s cool to do the Latinx heritage stuff and learn about new artists.”
Alexis Molina smiles with her final painting inspired by Tarsila do Amaral.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Alexis Molina, Mechanical Engineering
“My painting is in my opinion very vibrant. And I like the contrast of the paler sky against the mountains. And I think it really parallels kind of like the vibrancy and nuances of Hispanic culture. And it’s just really like the beauty of that and how it’s so unique just as it is. I feel like it reflects it very well and there’s so many different aspects of myself and of my heritage. I feel like it does a good job of that.”
Daniela Gutierrez and Chelsea Kau show their final paintings. Kau said the patterns on her painting paid homage to the artists from her home in Hawaii.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Chelsea Kau, Business
“For me, this program is the first time I ever attended it. So it’s super cool because it merges diversity and inclusion because there’s a huge difference between diversity and inclusion. But this is a space where we can be creative, be who we are, express ourselves in whatever way we want. My painting in particular, I sort of paid homage to artists back home in Hawaii, where they love to layer their paintings and put on patterns over their artwork. So I kind of paid homage to my culture back home.”
Daniela Gutierrez, Nursing
“This is my first time attending the program so I’m kind of still getting the hang of it. Today we painted cactuses, or cacti. And it kind of reminds me of back home because it’s a very dry place. So it was nice to feel that kind of vibe.”
Environmental Science major Araceli Lara smiles with her painting that reminds her of the deserts back home.
The Beacon: What does your painting mean to you?
Araceli Lara, Environmental Science
“My painting reminded me of back home since there’s a lot of desert. So it’s like the desert night.”
Molly Lowney is a photographer for The Beacon. She can be reached at lowney21@up.edu.
