Monica Villarreal

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.