Resisting Erasure: Esperanza Center to Present Panel of Female Artists, Cultural Leaders

April 19, 2022 - San Antonio

Women’s voices. “Now more than ever, we need to see and hear the truth, even if it makes us uncomfortable,” states Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (pictured). Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.

By Jade Esteban Estrada, Co-Editor | San Antonio Sentinel

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

  • On Thursday, the Esperanza Center will present a free panel discussion featuring female curators, artists, and cultural leaders titled "Resisting Erasure: Women Making Art, Speaking Up, and Moving Forward
  • The panel will include Graciela Sanchez, Suzy Gonzalez, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Sarah Fox, Norma Cantu, and Kathy Armstrong

On Thursday, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center will present a panel discussion titled Resisting Erasure: Women Making Art, Speaking Up, and Moving Forward. Five women - artists, curators and cultural leaders - will share their experiences about the ways individuals, institutions, and institutional racism, sexism, and homo/transphobia have repressed their work. 

For women in the arts, access to resources, including exhibition and performance opportunities and funding, often come with strings attached intended to restrict and silence their voices as artists and women, according to a press release from the organization.

Audiences will have the opportunity to learn what the panelists have dealt with, and how they continue to struggle against oppressive tactics and efforts to silence and censor women’s voices. The discussion will be followed by a Q & A session with the audience.

“Now more than ever, we need to see and hear the truth, even if it makes us uncomfortable,” states Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. “Women and especially women of color continue to be silenced as we tell the truths about our lives. But all of us are hurt when institutions and others in power try to erase some piece of the truth.” 

The panel will include Sanchez, artist and curator Suzy Gonzalez, and San Antonio-based visual artists Jennifer Ling Datchuk and Sarah Fox, and Norma Cantu, professor at Trinity University. Kathy Armstrong, an independent arts leader, will moderate the discussion. The program is being presented with the support of Sarah E. Harte in partnership with the Esperanza Center. 

The free event will take place at 6:30 p.m. on April 21. Doors open at 6 p.m. The Esperanza Center is located at 922 San Pedro Avenue. Parking for this event will be available at San Antonio College at parking lots 27 and 28 and the Planned Parenthood parking lot at 920 San Pedro. 

Registration for this event is requested via Eventbrite.



Jade Esteban Estrada is a co-editor for the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. jade@sasentinel.com | Twitter: @satx_writer