Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Jesse Treviño

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.trevin04
Creators:
Treviño, Jesse, 1946-
Cordova, Cary
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas
Dates:
2004 July 15-16
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
77 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Jesse Treviño conducted 2004 July 15-16, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in San Antonio, Texas.
Scope and Contents
Treviño discusses his birth in Monterrey, Mexico; moving to San Antonio; being one of 12 children; attending the Art Students League of New York; being drafted into Vietnam; the Mekong Delta; falling into a booby trap and being badly wounded; the long recovery and the subsequent amputation of his right hand; learning to paint with his left hand; his first shows; his "Mi Vida" self-portrait; the numerous poster contests he won as a youth; his art training; the difficulty in organizing Chicano art shows; the relationships with his siblings, particularly his oldest sister, Eva; his Santa Rosa Hospital mural ("Spirit of Healing"); and the importance of public art, particularly murals. Treviño also discusses his Veladora; his early left-handed paintings; the classification of himself as a "Realist"; how he chooses the sites he paints; helping form the Alameda/Smithsonian art center; being invited to talk at veteran's groups and high schools; his early paintings on black canvas; his new public art project on San Antonio's notorious Guadalupe Street; his Wells Fargo Bank mural and its formation; his interest, or lack thereof, in photography; his portraits of Henry B. Gonzales and his mother; his painting, "Mis Hermanos;" his successful one man show at the San Antonio Museum of Art; his relationships with galleries; the rejuvenating qualities of art in poor neighborhoods; his trip to Chile with Hillary Clinton, as part of her First Lady's Convention; being honored at the White House; and how he wants his art to unite people. Treviño also recalls William Draper, Felipe Reyes, Katherine Alsup, Earl Mayan, George Cortex, Gilbert Denman, Kevin Consey, Lionel Sosa, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Jesse Treviño (1946- ) is a painter from San Antonio, Texas. Cary Cordova (1970- ) is an art historian from Austin, Texas.

Administration

Sponsor
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 11 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clinton, Hillary Rodham Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mayan, Earl. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consey, Kevin E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sosa, Lionel Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Draper, William F., 1912-2003 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reyes, Felipe Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alsup, Katherine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cortex, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Denman, Gilbert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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