Legacy of Color

The Personal, Passionate Art of Emigdio Vasquez

Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.
-poet Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

Few of us would tackle the seemingly daunting task of creating a piece of art while the world watches. But that is what Emigdio Vasquez '78, '79 (B.A., M.A. art) has done since the 1960s. Travel throughout Orange County and it is hard to miss his creations-bold, colorful murals that richly reflect the region's agricultural and Hispanic heritage. A characteristic commissioned work is "The Legacy of Cesar Chavez" (1997), painted on an interior wall of the Cesar Chavez Center at Santa Ana College. A tribute to the farm labor leader, as well as the working people Chavez supported, its images are a reflection of Vasquez's people, too.

"My work is very personal," noted the painter who has been called one of the Chicano art movement's pioneering artists.

Born in Jerome, Ariz., Vasquez grew up in Orange and today lives in Santa Ana. "I always liked creating art, even as a child. I remember going out to the Orange Theater with my brother and sister. I would come home and try to illustrate what I had seen on the big screen."

Art has been a common thread throughout his life. Following graduation, he made his mark in the roughly 20 murals that can be seen at Irvine Valley and Santa Ana community colleges, at Disneyland and throughout the city of Anaheim, where he worked as a muralist instructor for eight years. He also served as an artist in residence at Santa Ana's Bowers Museum for three years.

These days he concentrates on smaller, more personal works of art. Vasquez is intent upon painting works like his "sentimental favorite" called "John the Prophet," an image of a Hispanic man kneeling by a van in the shadow of other people. And Vasquez is teaching others to make art, sharing his knowledge and experience with a new generation of young Orange County artists. "I'm there to give them instruction and ideas... to let their artistry flow."