Oral history interview with John Valadez
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 58 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Valadez, John, 1951-
label: Interviewer
content: Rangel, Jeffrey J.
topic: label: Topic
content: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Latino and Latin American artists
label: Topic
content: Chicano artists
label: Topic
content: Chicano art movement
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Valadez, John, 1951-
label: Interviewer
content: Rangel, Jeffrey J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: John Valadez (1951-) is a muralist and painter from Los Angeles, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 159 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1996 November 25-1997 May 12
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.valade96
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of John Valadez conducted 1996 November 25-1997 May 12, by Jeffrey Rangel, in Valadez's studio, Los Angeles, California, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: John Valadez, muralist and painter, was born in Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles. Growing up in Huntington Park, he assimilated into the multi-cultural community and throughout his school years did not have any strong ethnic ties. His strong, hard-working mother, instilled in her son values of truth and fair play, and kept him from getting involved in gangs. After graduating from Hunting Park High School and attending East Los Angeles College, where his artistic talents were encouraged by his instructors, he became a part of the developing Chicano Art community. He went on to California State University, Long Beach, continuing his art studies there. During the summers, he directed the summer mural program at the Long Beach Community Center, where he executed his first murals (which have since been painted over). Valadez is a photo-realist, who gets his imagery or "Image Bank" from Mexican tabloids. He is one of the leading Chicano painters.