Nora Chapa Mendoza’s haunting abstract images of migrant workers have been collected by prominent art lovers across the globe.
Right now the talented Michigan artist’s acrylic and oil paintings are on display in Oxford throughNov. 30 at Margot’s Gallery and Frame (5 S. Washington St.).
Mendoza’s works are part of the private collections of former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, U.S. Congressman John Conyers, and former General Motors President Jack Smith.
Publicly, her works can be seen on the walls of the Edison Plaza, General Motors headquarters, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield headquarters, all in Detroit. Even Ford Motor Company’s offices in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza proudly display the talented Hispanic/American Indian’s works.
For more than 30 years, her images have reflected the plight of migrant workers. Before his death Cesar Chavez commissioned her to design greeting cards for the United Farm Workers of America Children in the Fields Program.
Mendoza’s memorable and striking images earned her the 1999 Michigan Artist of the Year award and a 10-year appointment to the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs.
In 1996, she was one of eight artists to participate in the $6 million renovation of the Detroit Music Hall.
In 1998, a two-day exhibit in Havana, Cuba featuring reflections of Hispanic-American Indian working women ended with a presentation to Cuban President Fidel Castro of one of Mendoza’a illustrations of women toiling in the fields.
Born in Galvaston Texas to migrant field workers in the late 1930s, Mendoza’s work captures the raw and emotional essence of her Hispanic-American Indian heritage.
After moving to Detroit in 1953, she painted at home while raising her children. Eventually, she took lessons at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit.
‘Mostly to confirm what I was doing was right,? said Mendoza, adding that even as a young girl she felt compelled to draw.
‘I always drew when I was little, but we were very poor,? she said. Her family had no money for paints and brushes because when she was 4 years old when her mother died and left her father with three children to raise.
When she was 14, Mendoza’s father finally bought her the paints and brush she so eagerly craved. From that moment on, she was a painter.
‘I never stopped (painting),? she said. ‘I always knew what I wanted to do.?
From Germany to Honduras, Mendoza’s work has been an educational tool, both artistically and culturally.
To her students, Mendoza advises to be artistically brave and paint fearlessly.
‘They musn’t compare their work to others,? she said. ‘Loose the fear and take a chance ? keep doing what they are doing and know that what they are creating is their own baby.?
Currently, Mendoza is teaching in Lansing and continues to give workshops through the country.
‘A lot of inspiration comes form my travels, my experiences with different people.?
‘And I always have my paper, paint and a brush so I fill up my days with my work,? she smiled.
In her travels, Mendoza said she keeps in touch with her rich cultural heritage by attending Indian religious ceremonies, which provide a spiritual base for her work.
‘My spiritual experiences give me the whole reason to live and create,? she said. ‘I have lists and lists of things I want to paint.?
When asked why she stays in Michigan, Mendoza said she loves the weather. But her home here is only a nest to land in.
‘I travel a lot. Artist’s hours are flexible and it’s a good life because you can work wherever you are,? she said.
Although she’s s achieved much in life as an artist, the work Nora’s most proud of is not hanging somewhere on a museum wall or even painted on a canvass.
‘My two children ? they are my masterpieces,? she said.
Nora has two grown children, a son who is a doctor living in Florida, and a daughter who owns and operates a violin studio in Troy.