Judith Brodsky, director of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, and Isabel Nazario, director of the Center for Latino Arts and Culture at Rutgers University, outline the reasons that led them to invite Latina artists to serve as artists-in-residence to work with students at Rutgers University. First, the authors observed that there was a lack of knowledge of the importance of work by women of Latin American descent in the United States. Second, the authors believed that students would benefit from the exposure to the work of contemporary Latina artists. Third, Brodsky and Nazario wanted to structure an interdisciplinary course that would attract students from the department of visual arts, women’s studies program, and the department of Latin American studies in order to create a dynamic learning environment. And fourth, the authors wanted students to gain first-hand experience in documenting and exhibiting the work of contemporary Latina artists. The Latina artist course was attended by thirty-five students and seven prominent artists: Catalina Parra, Magdalena Campos-Pons, Analee Davis, Anaida Hernández, Yolanda López, Coco Fusco, and Amelia Mesa-Bains. The end product of the class was the publication of a bilingual exhibition catalogue containing critical essays on the artists written by the students.
