(Tom) This week on Arizona Illustrated, the Center for Creative Photography honors one of our state's most important photographers.

(Elizabeth) Over the course of a few years, the family donated his archives to the Center for Creative Photography knowing that it would be an ideal home.

(Tom) The Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild is keeping the medium alive and Tucson.

(Nancy) Controlling watercolor is like herding cats.

It is different.

It's actually surprising in many of its characteristics.

(Tom) And honoring writer and activist, Alva Bustamante Torres.

(Alva) History is important, so you know, something comes up where I'm ready to go back into battle.

I don't care what.

I don't care if it's a mountain or an ocean.

I'm going to swim it, and I'm going to climb it.

Hello, and welcome to Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We're joining you from the Center for Creative Photography in an exhibit called Louis Carlos Bernal, "Retrospectiva."

And it features over 140 original photographs from the Arizona-born artist who is now considered to be one of the most significant photographers of the 20th century.

[ PROJECTOR CLICKS ] [ PROJECTOR CLICKS ] ♪ SOMBER GUITAR (Elizabeth) Louis Carlos Bernal has long been recognized as a very important Chicano photographer.

[ PROJECTOR CLICKS ] [ PROJECTOR CLICKS ] He wanted to be seen as an artist, you know, not as a photojournalist or a documentary photographer, and he was always pushing himself.

You know, even though in a way the photographs are somewhat simple, I think because of their directness, there's a great intentionality behind each photograph [ PROJECTOR CLICKS ] Bernal was born in Douglas, Arizona.

He was born right on the border you know, in a pretty poor family.

His father worked in the mining industry.

His mother was a maid, and when he was a kid, they moved to Phoenix where there would be better educational opportunities.

But he remembers the overt racism against Mexican-Americans in those days.

But ever since he was a young teenager, he was also interested in photography.

And over time, he finally decided that what he wanted to do was to become a photographer.

And photography was one of the ways, a chief way, that he realized that he could express himself.

(Bernal) The label I use to describe myself is Chicano, the reason I use the Chicano label is because to me it represents an individual who is actively involved in a-- a political effort to change the society that I live in.

And also I feel that I'm actively involved in the Chicano community, and I'm very interested in trying to give to the Chicano community some of the benefits that I've had of my education in my-- (Elizabeth) This was coming around the same time as the Civil Rights Movement, which was both an African-American and a-- Chicano-Latino movement.

But over time, he decided that what he really wanted to do was devote his photographic work to exploring what it meant to be Chicano.

♪ SOMBER TRUMPET ♪ In many cases, the big magazines, the big newspapers, they were assigning-- white photographers to come and make those photographs.

So they were outsiders coming in.

Bernal presents a very different model He's coming from the community, making pictures of that community, and wanting to reflect to the community themselves, while at the same time acting as a bridge, he wanted to tell the world at large, America at large- this is also America.

♪ TRIUMPHANT GUITAR AND TRUMPET ♪ He is photographing people who have such long roots in Tucson and southern Arizona.

I think what's important to see is this kind of panorama, you know, young people, old people.

You know, generally, people are very modest means.

And of course, this region was Mexico.

And these people had land, you know- ranchos that it's so intertwined in their identity and their heritage.

And so, you know, I think he's also saying, you know, we lay claim to this land when he has pictures of people in the barrios or people out in the countryside.

You know, the land is very important to Mexican-American people.

(Bernal) Here you are.

It's 1980, this thing.

This is your decade, man.

And you've got to reach out, and you've got to grab it now.

And I think that in lots of areas, I don't think that we are as prepared as I wish we were.

(Elizabeth) He wanted the world at large, as well as the community he was photographing, to see the resilience, the grace.

And he often talked about the spirituality.

He saw these photographs as a means of conveying the really profound spiritual nature of Chicano people.

He's photographing Catholics who, you know, had these amazing shrines.

You know, he has pictures of the Virgin Mary and crucifixes in many, many saints, you know, in their bedrooms, in their living rooms.

And so he's documenting a level of religiosity that is much more rare today.

He's quite beloved in Tucson.

He taught for many years at Pima College and has a number of students that revered him.

He was well-known in photography and cultural circles.

(David) Pima has never dedicated a space to an individual.

And I think the reason they did was because of the nature of his demise.

October of 1989, he was literally riding his bicycle out here by Tumamoc Hill and up the hill to come to West Campus, when he was accidentally grazed.

And he hit his head on a stone, and then was in a coma for four years.

(Guy Atchley) After spending the last four years in a coma, a world-renowned Tucson photographer has died.

He died in 1993 on his 52nd birthday.

It was my idea to put up an exhibition of Lou's work that had never been shown before.

Lou originally made the prints for the book, "Images and Conversations."

And there's 39 images that we have.

And I think the exhibition proves he really had a vision to communicate about the Mexican-American history.

(Becky) You know what size the prints are of the black and white ones that we have, so that gives us some reference for the prints.

(Elizabeth) Over the course of a few years, the family donated his archives to the Center for Creative Photography knowing that it would be an ideal home.

You know, here his work is amongst many of the great photographers of the United States.

And so I think the goal had always been to do a major retrospective exhibition.

But when a big collection like that comes into an archive, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.

I've been visiting the Center for Creative Photography for the last couple of years.

So I've been selecting photographs for the exhibition.

I've been researching his work.

And during this latest visit, I've been going through the entirety of the collection.

with the Center's curator.

(Becky) We're looking at more pinks than we are tans, so- (Elizabeth) I've spent hours and hours learning about him and looking at photographs of him.

I feel like I know him, you know, and I feel like he's even helped me through this process.

What I'm lucky is to know people who knew him intimately.

(David) Lou was very charismatic.

You know, I was in graduate school when I first met him.

He's also very opinionated, you know, about what should be done and what shouldn't be done, you know, which is-- I think, rewarding in the long run because he had a vision.

♪ NOSTALGIC GUITAR (Elizabeth) It's so interesting because If you look at his very early work, he's working with different kind of photographic processes, and he's searching.

But at a certain point in time, he's wandering around the Barrios in Tucson and he's coming across these, you know, these beautiful old homes.

And he's beginning to think about this form of photography that would be truly his own.

♪ NOSTALGIC GUITAR ♪ So that gave him confidence to continue with that work.

That was the kind of thing that could really keep him occupied for the rest of his life.

And he said this over and over again that people trusted me.

(David) Not just living rooms.

He went actually into the bedrooms and photographed.

So, you know, to build that trust, I think that is a gift.

You know, not all photographers have that.

And Lou did.

♪ MARIACHI MUSIC ♪ (Elizabeth) One by one, he's constructing this, kind of this amazing portrait of the Chicano community.

And then at a certain point, he gets a grant from MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund.

Interestingly, I think he was the only Chicano who was invited and he felt a great sense of responsibility because he knew he was photographing his own community.

That commission gave him the funds to begin to travel.

And, you know, he really wanted- his goal was very ambitious to create this very large portrait of Chicanos throughout the Southwest.

(David) He was also the first Hispanic to photograph the 1984 LA Olympics.

He didn't go for the limelight.

He went to the vendors and photographed the vendors.

They're all in color.

Quite beautiful.

You know, his legacy is one that will be with us because he is of us.

(Elizabeth) I want the photo world to understand, here's a very important photographer that has not had nearly the recognition that he deserves.

And you know, when there are major books on the history of American photography or major exhibitions, I mean, he should be there as a central figure.

And so I feel just so privileged and also really kind of confident that we're going to be able to portray a very vivid picture of who he was through his work.

♪ MUSIC FADES ♪ (Tom) This show will remain up until March 15, 2025.

To learn more, go to ccp.arizona.edu And if you stick around till the end of the show, we'll interview the CCP's Learning and Engagement Manager, Denisse Brito, about the community impact of the show.

Next, we take you to an art form that predates photography by hundreds of years, watercolor painting, and we'll introduce you to a dedicated community that still practice, teach, and showcase this traditional medium.

[Music] (Kath) I am enjoying sketching right here and now, for better or for worse.

(Janine) I think plein air painting is especially, maybe meditative.

This is a good way to express yourself and be doing something creative outdoors, what more could you ask for?

(Kath) It's pleasure.

Very relaxing, extremely relaxing, and just a delight.

I like to time things to 25 minutes.

If it's a bum at 20 minutes, it's just delightful to walk away.

If it's good, then you finish it.

(Janine) I'm working on a watercolor painting of the bench and the pots.

I like the color and the way it's set up.

I mean, you don't always get something you really love, but, yeah.

(Kath) I did watercolor off and on, because you raise a family, back into the 70s.

60s, actually.

Long time.

(Janine) Well it's something I started when I was very young, and so once I stopped working, then I wanted to start painting again.

(Kath) They've always wanted to do it, and they never had the time, because of work, family, whatever was going on, so they've been waiting.

When the time comes that they have the opportunity, they want to do it.

(Janine) Painting by yourself isn't very fun.

And I don't know, sometimes it's probably not very safe.

So it's good to have a group.

And so the Watercolor Guild offers different groups, and they also offer some social opportunities, I think.

There's some very good watercolor painters, but it's not really very intimidating.

(Kath) It's a great place to get with other people who are already in art, see what they're doing, get inspired.

They have a gallery You can be in the gallery, and improve.

That's done.

And a minute ago, this section was too strong and jumped out at you, and now it's all right.

It's back in there where it ought to be.

(Nancy) I wanted to express myself, and as I retired, I decided that that was the area that I was going to go into.

Controlling watercolor is like herding cats.

It is different.

It's actually surprising in many of its characteristics.

If you start into watercolor and you are new to it, it is surprising and a bit frustrating, because it is difficult to manage.

If you want to advance yourself and advance your skills, you really do have to be serious about it and be devoted to it, so daily painting is a good way to do that.

(Loisanne) This is a practice painting.

This is actually a study for a real painting.

I call my paintings applied chaos most of the time.

You start out with an image and a goal, and as the paint moves over the paper, one is constantly adapting to that.

When I get done, this is supposed to look like snow and fields.

I'm trying to get the right color here.

So I have to add a little red.

Wet on wet is painting with the paper really saturated with water.

The main challenge is knowing how much water and how much paint you can use.

As you can see, the water will run down.

The paint runs down.

And you have to know how much of that you want to have happen.

(Nancy) You can paint different ways with watercolor.

If you paint a dry brush effect, you're getting more of the acrylic type of movement, where you actually can do a little bit more to make that paint go the places that you want it to go.

(Loisanne) I got a drop of water on damp paper, and it pushed the paint away, so I have what we call a cauliflower.

All right.

The mountain just blew.

Oh, beautiful.

(Loisanne) Oh, the group is great.

Actually, this watercolor group is the most welcoming, the most accepting, the most supporting, the most fun, of any group I've been involved with.

And I don't mean just these people here, but our general membership.

You go to a meeting and everybody's talking to everybody else and introducing themselves and sharing information about what they're doing, where they're painting and stuff.

I think it's a great group.

It's really a wonderful community.

Everybody's trying to get better, and everybody wants to get their painting juried into a show, so there's a little competition edge, because we all want to get in, but everybody's also really supportive of whoever got in.

(Nancy) We've gone up and down just a little bit.

It stayed around 300 to 400 members for the last, I'd say close to 10 years.

Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild is just celebrating 50 years, and we're very proud of that.

We started out in 1967, just a group of artists getting together because they liked watercolor.

It advanced from there, so over the years, we became incorporated in 1981.

So we are a non-profit, and as such, we promote education.

I think it's something that we can be extremely proud of because you don't see groups that have been around for 50 years or more in a community, certainly of this size.

But the fun thin about watercolor is actually taking the watercolor from your brain, through your hand, and putting it on paper and see it change.

(laughing) During urban renewal in the 60s and 70s, writer and activist Alva Bustamante Torres fought to preserve La Plaza de la Messia in downtown Tucson.

Well, in 2022, the plaza was named in her honor.

Now we show you why.

[music] [Ernesto] Bienvenidos!

Welcome, all.

We are here to celebrate.

We're here to honor We are here to recognize.

[applause] [Lydia] What we're trying to do is add a new layer of history.

We're celebrating the dedication of the TCC landscape.

In honor of Alva Bustamante Torres.

[Ernesto] Some of you know Alva Bustamante Torres from her many years as a columnist with the old Tucson Citizen, where she dispensed stories and recipes.

And some of you may know her through the books of Professor Lydia Otero.

[Alva] My name is Alva Bustamante Torres.

I love Tucson because Tucson is the people that's what Tucson means to me, people.

And so it wasn't hard to do what I did because I love people.

[Lydia] She was a fireball who led and organized the movement that tried to bring attention to urban renewal.

♪ INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR And this is a history that's kind of gone underneath.

Up to this point, there wasn't something that talked about urban renewal in a way that it's doing today.

[Lydia] A close encounter with a family friend, Rodolfo Soto opened Alva Bustamante's eyes to the destruction that was taking place.

[Alva] And one day I saw him at a party and he looked very sad.

And I said, Mr. Soto, what's the matter?

And he said,Don't you know?

He said, they're going to knock everything down.

They're going to take away the Barrio Libre they're going to do it, and they're not even going to know we were ever here.

But when he told me that, I got very interested.

And the next Sunday, I called people and said, I'm going to have a meeting at my house.

And people showed up [Lydia] Today, we're standing on ground that holds many layers of history.

The gazebo at La Placita, the wishing shrine known as El Tiradito, and the Sosa-Carrillo and Samaniego houses are among the structures that have Arizona historical markers that specifically mention Mexican-American contributions to local history in both English and Spanish, which Alva insisted upon.

Most Tucsonenses were intimately familiar with this space They called it, "La Calle".

South Meyer was La Calle's main commercial thoroughfare.

[Alva] I did not realize that it was part of something that was happening all over the country.

I didn't realize that they were going after neighborhoods that had less.

[Lydia] Torres pereceived urban renewal as an attack on Mexican people who had built and lived in Tucson.

In a letter to Congressman Morris Udall in 1967, she wrote, "It's not enough that many citizens of Mexican descent who lived in the area for many years are being relocated and caused financial distress.

But it appears to us that the main effort is to destroy once and for all any identification with Mexican-American community."

♪ AGGRESSIVE GUITAR The Mayor proposed and the Council approved, naming the TCC Plaza after Alva Bustamante early this year.

[ CROWD CHEERS ] I think that this is a monumental event.

I think in many ways it's a game-changer.

It signals a new era in that we will examine the histories of this area with more intensity.

So in the future, when people see the signage out there, that people will read a little bit and know that there was resistance, but they also might ask more questions, not just, "who is Alva?

", but also, "what happened here?"

[Charlene] and now therefore I, on behalf of Mayor Romero, do proclaim today, December 9th, 2022 as Alva B. Torres Appreciation Day.

[ CROWD CHEERS ] Alva's my mentor, certainly, and she's inspired me because of what she did and I'm glad that more people see that now.

It's important.

History is important.

Still, you know something comes up.

I'm ready to go back into battle.

I don't care what.

I don't care if it's a mountain or an ocean.

I'm going to swim it, and I'm going to climb it.

And I'll still do it.

Joining us now is Denisse Brito, who is Learning and Engagement Manager for the CCP.

Hi, Denisse.

Louis Carlos Bernal, this is a big deal.

What's it mean to the CCP and to this community?

Sure.

Bernal is a big deal, right?

So it means a lot of things to CCP and to the community especially.

He's often considered the father of Chicano photography.

Representation is very important.

People who don't really come to museums now are coming and seeing themselves reflected on the walls.

So that is super impactful.

We understand that some of the people coming in will come in and discover a family member.

Surprisingly, in one of his photos, that's got to be a thrill for you and the staff to see that.

Yes, I don't think people know that Bernal was taking pictures of family members.

That's a cool thing.

The other thing is that it makes connections to, "Oh my God, my grandma had that tea set," or "my grandma had a layout similar to that."

So there are multiple points of entry where people can relate to the images.

What programs, what extra efforts have you made around this exhibit to really enhance the visibility?

(Denisse) Sure.

So since the exhibition started, we've done many, many different programs.

We did community events from parties inside CCP's walls to outside in the community.

We have a series of lectures and panels.

And then we had this cool little mini exhibition, Louis Carlos Bernal Retrospectivita which is like a smaller sample of the big CCP that got to travel throughout many... in many cities in Arizona, but also New Mexico."

But it also got to bring a little taste to the community.

So it allows access, but also it allows them as a teaser to come see us here.

Retrospectiva is very compelling to all who have seen it.

What would you say to folks who haven't been here yet, but still have a chance to stop in before the exhibit is finished?

(Denisse) Yeah, so come.

There's many things to see.

There is, I think this is an exhibition for all ages.

Also, the cool thing about this exhibition is that we have Bernal's archives throughout the space.

We can see into his artistic thought process.

So we can see some negatives on cases.

We can also see his old photographs, some letters.

We can see handwriting.

So we can see many.

We can actually, in a way, meet Bernal in a very personal level.

(Tom) Well, Denisse, thank you so much.

Congratulations on the exhibit.

Thanks for having us in.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining us on Arizona Illustrated here at the Center for Creative Photography.

I'm Tom McNamara and we'll see you again next week.