Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with mural artist Juana Alicia Araiza.About Artist Juana Alicia:Juana Alicia has been creating murals and working as a printmaker, sculptor, illustrator, and studio painter for over thirty years. Her style, akin to genres of contemporary Latin American literary movements, can be characterized as magical and social realism, and her work addresses issues of social justice, gender equality, environmental crisis and the power of resistance and revolution.The artist has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Windcall Residency, Master Muralist Award (Precita Eyes), Woman of Fire Award, among other recognitions, and her sculptural and painted public commissions (individual and collaborative) can be seen in Nicaragua, Mexico, Pennsylvania and in many parts of California, most notably in San Francisco. They include SANARTE at U.C.S.F. Medical Center, SANTUARIO at the San Francisco International Airport, LA LLORONA'S SACRED WATERS at 24th and York Streets in the Mission of San Francisco, the MAESTRAPEACE mural of the San Francisco Women’s Building, and GEMELOS at the Metropolitan Technical University in Mérida, Mexico.In 2019, Juana Alicia, in collaboration with her sister muralists, published MAESTRAPEACE: San Francisco’s Monumental Feminist Mural, through Heyday Books, and is now collaborating with Tirso G. Araiza on a graphic novel, La X’Taabay. She is currently the recipient of the Golden Capricorn Award from the San Francisco Arts Commission, which includes solo exhibition at the SFAC Main Gallery in summer of 2023. In 2021, she was awarded a Eureka Fellowship, and in 2022, a California Arts Council Legacy Award.Visit Juana Alicia's Website: JuanaAlicia.comFollow Juana Alicia on Social Media: @Juana_AliciaLearn More About Juana Alicia's Exhibit - Me Llaman Calle: The Monumental Art of Juana Alicia--About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWilFollow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast--CREDITS:Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson. Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 LicenseThe Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions. For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com