In this essay, Ricardo Romo discusses the vibrant tradition of Chicano muralism, proposing as his goals both an examination of the historical evolution of murals painted in borderland states across the United States (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) and an interrogation of their major themes and meanings. Romo suggests that the modern Chicano movement resulted from three distinct cultural moments: the development of popular arts traditions in the borderlands region; the Mexican mural movement of the 1930s and the artistic presence of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros in the U.S.; furthermore, the training of New Deal American muralists, which led to the rise of large-scale projects by Chicano mural artists in the 1960s. Romo devotes significant consideration to each phenomenon individually, linking each to specific currents in contemporary Chicano muralism. Following this, he outlines various themes and their articulations in murals throughout the borderlands region, which include reflections on life and death, characterized by references to the iconography made popular by José Guadalupe Posada. Other themes at stake are the relationship of religion to society and the long-standing influence of Catholicism, socioeconomic conditions and the struggle of the United Farm Workers, urban political struggles and the politics of immigration, as well as themes of localized and international conflict, war, and oppression. Romo concludes with a consideration of the changes borderland murals have undergone since the movement first began, detailing new challenges regarding the preservation of existing works and emphasizing the important social role of murals as an ongoing source of pride for their communities.
