Mel Casas papers
name: label: Creator
content: Casas, Mel, 1929-2014
label: Names
content: Con Safo (Group)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Texas -- San Antonio
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio
label: Topic
content: Latino and Latin American artists
label: Topic
content: Mexican American art
label: Topic
content: Mexican American artists
label: Topic
content: Chicano art movement
label: Topic
content: Chicano artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Mel Casas papers were donated by Mel Casas in 1981 and microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. Additional papers were donated by Casas in 1999.
creator: label: Creator
content: Casas, Mel, 1929-2014
setName: label: See more items in
content: Mel Casas papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of San Antonio painter and educator Mel Casas measure 1 linear foot and date from 1963 to 1998. The collection is comprised of biographical material  including files on the art collective Con Safo, correspondence regarding business and exhibitions, writings by Casas on Chicano art, printed materials documenting Casas's career and Con Safo events, and photographic materials, including photos and slides of Casas and others, his artwork, and an exhibition.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Mel Casas (1929-2014) was a painter and educator in San Antonio, Texas. 

Casas was born in El Paso in the historic El Segundo Barrio. After graduating from El Paso High School, he worked odd jobs before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. Casas was wounded by a landmine in Korea and ultimately awarded the Purple Heart. After returning home he attended the University of Texas at El Paso and graduated in 1956. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Art in 1958 from the University of the Americas in Mexico City.


Casas began his teaching career at Jefferson High School in El Paso where one of his students was artist Gaspar Enriquez. He went on to teach at San Antonio College and was chair of the art department there until his retirement in 1990.


Casas was a founder of the Chicano art movement and a key member of the art collective Con Safo with other founding members Felipe Reyes, Jose Esquivel, Rudy Treviño, and Roberto Ríos. Originally named El Grupo, the group's mission was to empower Chicano artists who were largely overlooked in the mainstream art world. In 1968 Casas penned the "Brown Paper Report," a manifesto explaining the meaning of Con Safo, Chicano, the "Brown Vision of America," and the group's use of the symbol "C/S." The report helped to define Con Safo as an organization and remains a fundamental document in the history of the Chicano art movement. 

Casas is well-known for his series Humanscapes that includes 150 large-scale paintings produced between 1965 and 1989. This series, along with smaller works, has been exhibited throughout the United States and Mexico. Casas's work can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and other collections worldwide. 

Casas died in San Antonio, Texas, in 2014.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1963-1998
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.casamel
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1975-1996 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1975-1993 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 3: Writings, 1973-1993 (Box 1; 0.9 folders)

Series 4: Printed Materials, 1963-1998 (Box 1-2, OVs 3-4; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1977 (Box 2; 2 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2018.

The collection was further processed for digitization and the finding aid updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2020.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2020 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. 

A portion of the collection was microfilmed on reels 3316-3317 as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. The microfilm is only available for interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in this finding aid does not reflect the order of the material on microfilm.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of San Antonio painter and educator Mel Casas measure 1 linear foot and date from 1963 to 1998. The collection is comprised of biographical material including files on the art collective Con Safo, correspondence regarding business and exhibitions, writings by Casas on Chicano art, printed materials documenting Casas's career and Con Safo events, and photographic materials, including photos and slides of Casas and others, his artwork, and an exhibition.

Of particular note are the files on Con Safo, including meeting minutes for two 1975 meetings, and copies of La Movida Con Safo numbers 1 and 2, which include records of the founding of the group and copies of defining documents of the Chicano art movement. Casas's writings, which express his ideas on Chicano art in diagrammatic form, are also of particular note.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also at the Archives of American Art is an interview of Mel Casas conducted August 14-16, 1996 by Paul Karlstrom for the Archives of American Art.