An exhibit that highlights the profound impact of Ricardo Favela and the Royal Chicano Air Force on Chicano art and activism.

Ricardo Favela was a trailblazer in the use of calavera imagery to depict Chicano life, addressing issues and perspectives often marginalized in the mainstream. His involvement with the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF)—a Sacramento-based Chicano art collective founded in 1969—offered him and his peers a powerful medium of expression through silkscreen posters. For the RCAF, Chicano arte was not created for art’s sake but as a tool of resistance and empowerment, reflecting the cultural pride and activism central to Chicanismo.

The RCAF began as un grupo de estudiantes Chicanos with profe’s and community gente, who came together to form an art collective with the aim of making cultural arts accessible to the working-class raza—La Plebe!

As Favela often said, “Have causa, we’ll travel.” In other words, your struggle is our struggle, and we will be there to support you with our arte.

Exhibit Information:

Title: Chicanismo and the Art of Resistance: The Legacy of Ricardo Favela and the R.C.A.F.

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 12th, 2024. 2-6 pm.
Location: Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, 1960 National Ave, CA, 92113.

Curated by:

Florentina Favela and Eddie Salas.