Urban Chicanx/Latinx Art and Cultural Production in Phoenix, Arizona “Mujeres del desierto”: Cultural Identity, Eco-somaesthetics, and Urban Space in the Work of Stella Pope Duarte, La Morena, and Annie Lopez

This dissertation explores contemporary Chicanx/Latinx art and cultural production in Phoenix, Arizona and its role in shaping and asserting a cultural identity and experience that is unique to this area of the southwestern United States. I examine the work of three female creatives spanning three generations who have used their art to represent, mitigate, and embody their experiences as Chicanx/Latinx subjects living in the Borderlands: Stella Pope Duarte (b. 1948), Lucinda Y Hinojos (La Morena) (b. 1981), and Annie Lopez (b. 1958). Through an examination of their artistic production traversing various media, including literature, urban art, and photography, I seek to show how they embrace the aesthetic activism and ideals of the Chicano Art Movement set within a contemporary context, while dialoguing with the local and global discourses that inform their realities. The theoretical framework I employ is grounded in principles surrounding body-space-place, specifically the notions of Somaesthetics (Shusterman 1996), Barriology-Barrioization (Villa 2000), and Thirdspace (Soja 1996). These theories are contextualized within the framework of borderland theory and Chicanx feminism, utilizing borderland spaces as a trope to combat traditional power structures and dichotomies while exploring the complexity and fluidity of transborder identities. I maintain that their work has contributed to Phoenix’s social and material landscapes through the articulation of a space/place-specific, hybrid Borderland identity grounded in the social, ecological, and physical realities of life in the “Valley of the Sun.” This dissertation seeks to demonstrate that their artistic expressions contribute to uniting and empowering the Chicanx/Latinx community through the definition of a Latinx space that is both physical and imaginary, allowing for self-representation, cultural affirmation, and collective healing. Overall, this dissertation contributes to an urgent gap in academic research surrounding Chicanx/Latinx cultural and artistic production in Phoenix. I hope to honor the presence and contributions of a long-established community and stimulate further investigation on this topic, proving that there is something worth talking about here in Phoenix.