Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Blanco.

Hi Maria, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

I was born in Mexico City, the daughter of a Spanish father who had to flee Spain because of the civil war and the rise to power of the fascist Francisco Franco, and a Mexican mother whose father had to leave Venezuela because he opposed the dictatorship of Venezuela.

I came with my siblings and my parents to the US when I was under 1 years old. However, every summer with very few exceptions we went with my mother to Mexico for entire summers. In the 60’s the family moved to California, after living throughout the US and a couple of years in Spain.

I was restless and curious and lived 6 years in Chicago and over a year in New York in my 20’s. I did organizing, mainly coalition building between Latina/os and African Americans during those years. Eventually I met a person who was to become my husband who lived in the Bay Area and I moved here in 1980. This has been my home now for many years, although I worked for 4 years in Los Angeles.

In spite of my mixed heritage I consider myself a Chicano, having been involved in the Chicano movement beginning as a teenager. Much later than most I entered law school at age 29 at UC Berkeley Law.

I immediately gravitated towards civil rights non profit law and I worked on issues of gender discrimination, race discrimination in employment and schools and on voting rights

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

In some respects the road was smooth in the sense that one step seemed to flow naturally into the next. However, the back and forth of support for civil rights and then periods of dismantling of civil rights was hard. At a personal level, it was very difficult to be a litigator and policy advocate while raising children.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

So after 40 years of being a civil rights lawyer, 12 years ago I started painting, while working. That was hard and required very different parts of my brain: lawyer and then being a creative. Two years ago I retired and now I pain full time and now introduce myself more and more as a painter.. The identity shift has been difficult. I never felt like an imposter as a lawyer, however, I have felt that a a painter. but it is getting better.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?

Persistence, seeking clear answers, a high degree of comfort with risk, working in team with others in a collaborative way and hard work and humility

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mariablancoart.com
• Instagram: mariablancogallery2