MONICA VILLARREAL

Xicana activist native to Houston, Texas. This is about activism, Danza Azteca, fine art, printmaking, graphic design, photography, web design, video y mas. #socialjustice #creativewomenunite #taxcayolotl

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Title: The Rhythm to Mictlān at Latinx Contemporary Dance Festival

Location: MATCH, Houston Texas

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Sharing Danza Azteca Taxcayolotl performance at the 2021 East End Festival on live TV.

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Performance Art Piece: Collaboration with Monica Villarreal, Eneraya Salazar, Joyce Day, & Chloe DeHoyos

Title: Reflections of Coatlicue (Reflections of our mother the creator and destroyer)

Description: A performance that connects land with the human reproduction system in reference to being givers of life and death. Giving birth is a gift that is carried out in a womb. We can see the representation of this in nature as simple as when the seasons change or as complex as our creation stories. The same way we have cycles of change in our human bodies, so does the earth. Sometimes within those changes there are rejections of something that can be harmful or of things that just can’t be explained. For example, a miscarriage or birthing a stillborn may cause someone to loss trust in their capabilty as a birthgiver. Within nature such as with the human body there are incidents that can’t be explained which create physical and spiritual scars. Often, these scars are not absent of trust. After such instances, trusting others, trusting ourselves, and loving ourselves can be difficult but can easily be learned by observing how nature replenishes itself. This performance is a representation of the battle we fight internally with ourselves when we lose trust. And how the path to trusting ourselves is as simple as reconnecting with our original mother, earth.

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Danza Azteca Taxcayolotl

Dedicated to preserving & nurturing ancient Mesoamerica knowledge.

Check you the new website I design for our Danza Azteca Kalpulli. #danzaazteca #HoustonDanzaAzteca #houart #dancehouston

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Top Five: March 14, 2019 with Adrian Aguilera, Tammie Rubin, & Betelhem Makonnen | Glasstire

An exhibition I'm a part of has been listed on Glasstire top five art exhibitions around Texas. Take a peek!

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Impressions of a Brown Girl

As a daughter of Mexican migrant workers, Villarreal had a particularly difficult experience as a child. She was raised in a strict, Spanish-speaking, patriarchal household that conflicted with the outside assimilation of the ‘American culture’. “I was looked down upon if I spoke Spanish at school, my friends and relatives feared for their livelihood every time they walked outside because of their immigration status, and I was treated as a second-class citizen cuz I was a brown girl.” Her intention with this project is to initiate and facilitate conversation about immigration, sexism, and discrimination as they relate to her experience as a brown girl. Using traditional Mexican printmaking, Villarreal will create a series of posters focused on issues that affect Latinx people. She will march with these posters at protests and organized actions throughout the year.

Funded by the Idea Fund

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This piece is dedicated to a place where everyone is welcome, no matter of skin color, culture or language. Doshi Coffee House is none prejudice, peaceful place where people of all backgrounds congregate. With that in mind, Monica wanted to create something that focused on humanism and equality. She utilized the color wheel as an inspiration for the design and graphic look of the piece. By doing this the artist wanted to communicate the idea of how the mixer of any of the primary colors of the color wheel can create any and every color in existence. This fact is also true for humans, although we’re all different shades and colors were all created the same, we all bleed the same blood, and we are all human.

When speaking of race as a scientific theory, there are no genes common to a group of people that would classify them as a certain race. Therefore, race is an idea, not a fact, it doesn’t need biology because it is a social construct. With this in mind, using race as a way to divide us diminishes our divinity as humans is a waste. There is only one race, the human race. Our blood is the same color, we all breath oxygen, etc. and although we have different skin tones, cultures, foods, clothing, languages which makes each and every one of us different, we are all homo sapiens. Embracing each other’s differences rather it is culture, food, language, etc. makes more sense than to hate one another because of our differences. In the words of Bob Marley, “ One Love”

You can find the newsstand at Doshi House, 3419 Emancipation Ave, Houston, TX 77004.

Learn more about this project at https://whatsthenewnews.com/.

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Creative Women Unite 11th annual International Women’s Day & Women’s Herstory Month Celebration! I will be participating in this wonderful event this weekend March 11th, 5p-10p & 12th, 3pm-6pm at BLUEorange, 1205 W. Gray. I hope to see you there! 

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Latina Power: The Next Generation of Activism - Part 1

Thank you to UH Friend's of Women Studies for inviting me to participate in this panel discussion.

A Panel Discussion with Bernadette Alvarez, Entrepreneur and Community Activist Rep. Ana Hernandez, Texas House Representative Claudia E. Ortega-Hogue, Community Advocate Yudith Nieto, Environmental Justice Activist Frances Valdez, Immigration Attorney, FValdezLaw PC Monica Villarreal, Visual Artist & Activist Moderator: Christina Sisk, PhD, UH Associate Professor, Dept of Hispanic Studies & WGSS Affiliate Faculty Member Co-sponsored by the Center for Mexican American Studies The Barbara Karkabi Living Archives Series features interviews with women from the Houston area, which are videotaped and collected in the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archive at the UH library, Special Collections.

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I’m participating in Print Matters RockinRollin event this year at Saint Arnolds on Sunday, April 23, 2016. My print will be printed around 2pm. The event starts at 10am. Come by and hang.

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I have the honor of interviewing Dolores Huerta this Friday, April 22 from 5pm- 8pm at Neighborhood Center, Baker-Ripley, 6500 Rookin, Houston, TX 77074. There’s also an opportunity for you to ask your questions during the Q&A session . All you need to do is RSVP.

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I’m really proud to participate in this art show at the Idyllwild Arts / Park Exhibition Center Gallery in Idyllwild, CA. They featured my art on the flier.

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Made of Star Stuff - Charge 2016

Charge 2016 by Houston MediaSource on Livestream - Livestream.com

Made of Star Stuff: is an exploration of the constellation of women art directors, curators, artists, producers, and patrons that are resource for the Houston. Autumn Knight and Monica Villarreal, will use mapping and interactive activities to demonstrate the importance of the network of women who support and make up the art scene in this city. The goal is to empower participants to either join or use this web of women creatives. And we want visiting presenters to consider the galaxies of women creatives in their own cities as a powerful force.

In order to demonstrate the awesomeness of local women art producers, Autumn and Monica will organize clusters of participants to play a game of FEMME RUMMY with playing cards featuring our brightest stars. Participants will use the game to exercise face recognition of many figures in Houston's art scene and to easily recognize upcoming and vanguard players of the game.

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Art League Houston (ALH) was founded in 1948 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1953. The mission of ALH is to cultivate awareness, appreciation, and accessibility of contemporary visual art within the community for its cultural enrichment. Art League Houston fulfills its mission through exhibitions, the Art League School, its annual Texas Artist of the Year program, and extensive outreach programming.

Just a few days till Charge 2016 and our session is full. You still have time to register for other sessions. Simply press on the link.

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Impatient is a film by Autumn Knight and Monica Villarreal. This film briefly investigates Houston’s evolving ethnogeographic situation in the new millennium. A Black and Brown friendship, mediated by language, provides a lens to examine the increasingly overlapping presence of African-American and Latinos/ Chicanos throughout the city. A series of interviews weaves together a context for history and claimed space, specifically within Houston’s Third Ward and Magnolia neighborhoods. Impatient intends to participate in the ongoing discussion of potential Black/Brown cultural exchange and unification efforts.

This film was created in 2011. Today seemed like a good day to post.

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SFAI 140 - November 2015 - Monica Villarreal

This is "SFAI 140 - November 2015 - Monica Villarreal" by Santa Fe Art Institute on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

This was my SFAI140 talk. Enjoy!

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Femme Fest HTX is taking place this Saturday, December 5th from 4pm-12am. We have a great line up of performing artists, vendors, & food trucks. The weather will be great so plan to bring the whole family. Femme Fest is a day to celebrate the cis women, transfolk, gender fluid/ nonconforming, Intersex, Queer (gay, bi, pansexual, a-sexual, anything not hetero sexual) folx in our community and the creativity they bring into our lives. Our goal is to create a safer space for networking and building relationships. Femme Fest is hosted by Planned Parenthood, sponsored by Creative Women Unite. FREE EVENT PERFORMANCES BY: Maria R Palacios Lauren Belmore Amyna Dosani Caitlin Scott Evan L. McCarley Bryn Ackley Gretchen McMahon & Bass Master 5000 Batala Houston The Regal People LLC Jasmine Hearn Tania Rivas Biz Vicious Pink Leche and more VENDORS & FOOD TRUCKS: Boombox Taco Forgotten Arts Clothing Southern Femmes Of Color Bad B!tches Unite Pleasure Focus! Daddy Issues Zine La Reina Vegana and more #femmefestHTX Also, Free Press Houston was generous enough to gift us free tickets to their DAY FOR NIGHT :: FREE PRESS' WINTER ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL. Attend Femme Fest HTX for a chance to win tickets to Day for Night. Don't miss out! To contact organizers please email: [email protected] For more info visit creativewomenunite.org