In 2017, the Border Was a Concept Nationally and a Canvas Locally

In this week’s Culturecast: Border art. Though Trump’s aggressive border policies provoked an international conversation that lasted throughout 2017, for many of those involved, the border remains just a faraway political concept. For the Californians and Mexicans who live near it, though, the border is a very real place. That was driven home throughout the year as local and foreign artists used the border as a canvas on which they expressed opinions about Trump’s policies. 2017 has been a busy year for artist making work at or about the international border fence. I asked three local artists and curators to join me to talk about border art in a roundtable discussion. Alessandra Moctezuma, an artist who runs the gallery at San Diego Mesa College and who recently curated the “unDocumenta” border show currently on view at the Oceanside Museum of Art. Jill Holslin, and artist, border activist and teacher at San Diego State University who recently took part in a big border art intervention. And Perry Vasquez, a professor at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, the director of the art gallery there, and an artist who’s made iconic border art and curated shows by border artists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.