We were lucky to catch up with Tina Medina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tina, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Some of the most meaningful projects I have worked on have involved the community. The positive encounters with students at the community college I work for have inspired me to incorporate engaging the community as part of my art making. As a college professor I once taught a class in collaboration with another professor, combining the forces of art and history. Included in this course was a emphasis on Latino/a art and history, as well an added element of involving the family of the students. This was an incredibly successful course for the students and was very rewarding for me personally. Through this experience I met many students’ families and learned their stories. I was enthralled and intrigued by the stories. I realized how important telling your story and claiming your place within the community is to growing your self worth and identity.
In 2017 I was encouraged to work with the community through a residency called Sunset Art Studios residency. I embarked on the first of a continual process of collecting family and individual stories of the Oak Cliff community, a neighborhood in south Dallas that is currently undergoing changes due to gentrification. As a Mexican American resident of Oak Cliff I see the importance of families of color who live and work within the neighborhood, creating a cultural atmosphere and place of belonging for their children through sheer hard work and determination. I wanted to collect the stories of these people and how they contribute to and have grown this community over the years. Their stories are an important part of American history. In 2022 I was fortunate to be supported by Arts Mission Oak Cliff to continue working on collecting stories and incorporating them into my art. Meeting the people of Oak Cliff and hearing their stories has truly been inspiring, uplifting and beautiful. I am continuing this project into the future and was just awarded the Nasher Sculpture Center artist grant to continue work on this meaningful project.

Tina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am originally from West Texas and earned my B.F.A. degree at Texas Tech University and my M.F.A. degree at UNT. Since 2006, I have served as a full-time professor of art at Dallas College.

Over the years I have participated in numerous art jury panels, speaking engagements, discussion panels and workshops in the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, and San Diego. I was a member of the oldest artist-run co-op in Texas, 500X Gallery and have served on a few City of Dallas Public Art Committees.

My artwork has been exhibited nationally in exhibits such as “Immigration, Migration, Movement & The Humanities” at Arizona State University and “Strive: An Exhibition Highlighting American Immigration & the American Dream,” at the D’Art Center, Norfolk, Va. Most recently my art was selected to be showcased in Arte Latino Now 2021, a virtual exhibit for the Center for Latino Studies at Queens University Charlotte in N.C., the Changarrito Artist of the Month 2021 for Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas, and solo exhibitions at the Norman Brown Gallery of Goldmark Cultural Center in 2021, and the Latino Cultural Center of Dallas in 2022.

I have also delved in curating exhibits such as “Contemporary Latino American Artists of the Metroplex” and “ELLA: Exhibiting Local Latina Artists.” In 2021, I helped to co-found Nuestra Artist Collective, a collective that aims to provide opportunities to empower the voices of Latina artists. The collective’s first project is to collaborate curating and exhibiting work of Texas women artists who make art about the U.S. Mexico border in a traveling exhibition that will be featured in Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso.

In 2022, I was accepted into the third Cohort Studio artist program at Cedars Union in Dallas and selected to create a community-engagement project and art exhibition in the inaugural Community Gallery Series at Arts Mission Oak Cliff in Dallas. Most recently, in the summer of 2022, I was awarded a Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist is collaborating with other creative individuals. Over the years I have been fortunate to meet amazing and talented individuals who inspire me and who work in a collaborative effort. I have learned so much from other artists in various fields including music, dance, theater and the humanities. In my early years as a professor of art I was lucky to have a dean who was very supportive and allowed all the arts disciplines to thrive and collaborate. Those years of collaboration were very fulfilling and creatively stimulating, setting the ground work for my future love of creative collaboration. My most recent experience with artists has been in founding an artist collective known as Nuestra Artist Collective. With two other sister artists, as I call them, we formed a collective to support and provide opportunities for artists who identify as Latinx, and female. Our first project, curating and exhibiting in an art exhibition titled Fronteriza, features artworks by Texas women artists about the US/Mexico border. In an effort to engage the community we also are organizing a Dreamers Mercado, a women’s vendor market that also includes immigration organizations as well as an evening of open conversation for the community called Conchas y conversaciones with socially conscious organizations sharing story telling and food. Through my work in collecting stories of Oak Cliff as well as in the artist collective I have been fortunate to collaborate with historians, writers, non-profit organizations, small business owners and activists. These have been some of the most rewarding experiences as an artist.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As an US born American woman of Mexican ancestry, I am compelled to make art that speaks about current issues through the viewpoint of people of color in the US. Our continued struggle to exist in this country motivates me to represent those who have suffered racism, bigotry, and xenophobia. Part of the experience I portray is how people of color try to place ourselves within a historical context that was never meant to include us.

Many of my works contemplate the contributions of families, especially black and brown families to the cultivation of the lands, economies, and culture of the United States whose physical hard labor of the past and today continues to be overlooked as the impetus of the success of this country. Through fibers, performance, video and audio I explore history, identity, ancestry, and belonging.

Our past and present history influence how we perceive others as well as how we perceive ourselves. My artwork speaks about power and the consequences of colonization and assimilation. I reflect on the loss of culture and tradition and consider the reconfiguration of creating a new sense of self for individuals who live in various cultural worlds. In my work I explore juxtapositions of history with cultural symbols to reflect the narratives of those whose stories are left untold. This is the mission of my creative journey-to give voice to those stories.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tinamedina.com
• Instagram: @tinamedina_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinamedinaart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-medina-6996563b

Image Credits
photos by Melissa Gamez-Herrera