Unity in the Community | Festival of the Arts 2003 | Festival of the Arts 2004 | Hernandez | Luevanos | Paiz | Díaz | Garcia | Vargas | Chris | Anonymous | Jenny Mendez | Marcos Bonafede | Stella Afesumeh and Toyeeb Fujah | Sarah Khazem | Edward Lesko | Intisar Markus

Son of Mexican American parents, George Vargas was born in Texas, raised and educated in Michigan. Of working-class roots, he worked in the agricultural fields and auto factories like many other young Latinos. He attended the University of Michigan and studied art history under Dr. Diane Kirkpatrick. As a fine arts student he studied under Black artist and historian Jon Onye Lockard. He has earned three degrees from U of M: Bachelor of Fine Arts and Film, Master of Arts in American Culture/Latino Studies, and Ph.D. in American Culture/Art History/Latin American Studies.

In 1979 and 1980 George Vargas received several commissions to paint murals in the cities of Adrian, Ann Arbor and Detroit. The mural at Ste. Anne Street at the corner of Bagley Avenue was painted with Martin Moreno and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts: CitySpirit (in 1997 this mural was accurately restored with permission of the artists by Vito Valdez and Kelly Callahan).

From the mid 1970's to 1993 George Vargas participated annually in Latino art exhibitions in Detroit, Lansing and Pontiac. He is especially proud of the Artist of the Year award he received in the 1993 National Council of La Raza Silver Anniversary Conference Art Show, at Cobo Hall, Detroit. George Vargas' art is represented in various private collections, including that of the late great musician Tito Puente.

Dr. Vargas also has a background in Latin American studies, museum studies, public art and art administration. His publications include:

• G. Vargas, "Mago Gandara: A Woman Muralist at the Border," monograph, Inter-American and Border Studies, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 1995.
• G. Vargas, "Border Artists in the Contemporary El Paso Mural Movement: Painting the New Frontier," Chicano Studies: Survey and Analysis, edited by Dennis J. Bixler-Marquez, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1997.
• G. Vargas, "Carlos Lopez: A Forgotten Michigan Painter," monograph, Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, 1998.
• G. Vargas, "An Update on Chicano Art," Chicano Renaissance: Contemporary Cultural Themes, edited by David R. Maciel, Isidro D. Ortiz, and Maria Herrera-Sobek, University of Arizona Press, 2000.
• G. Vargas, Contemporary Mexican American Art: New Art of the Americas, University of Texas Press, Austin (at press).
• G. Vargas, "Latino Art Timeline and Commentary," Rediscovering America, edited by Carla Blank, Crown Publishing, Oakland, California (at press).

Most recently he received an educational fellowship to study Jewish culture, religion, and art in Israel.

"The Borderland Series reflects my interests in assemblage, construction, and collage approaches. Originally begun in Michigan, and now continuing in Texas, the series innovates cast-off material and/or found objects into new forms and images, underscoring the precious life to be discovered in all things, natural and man-made. Signs and symbols, representing the mundane to the sacred, from the common to the unfamiliar, are juxtaposed in new ways in order to express the rich, diverse Latino experience in the New World and beyond."

Family Album
Sites of Interest
Articles of Interest

The Series
Health Resources
Community Partners
Latinos and Hispanics
Ethnic Prejudice and Anti-Immigrant Policies
En Español

The Series
Sample Civics Questions
Sample Civics Questions for Elderly Applicants

Privacy Policy | Legal Notices | Copyright 1999-2008 Detroit Public Television