The Lorraine García-Nakata Papers - Stanford University Libraries Special Collections, Stanford University
In 2015, The Lorraine García-Nakata Papers were formally acquired by Stanford University Libraries Special Collections. Stanford sought out the papers/archive of García-Nakata as the trajectory of her life work is unique in that it intertwines her life as a practicing artist, noted cultural specialist administrator, and for her long-standing ties to community, social justice and advocacy. The Lorraine García-Nakata Papers have been processed and open for research. Much of it is organized in ways convenient to archivists and bibliographers for scholarly and pedagogical use. The LGN archive is both hard copy and also includes an enormous number of files that have been captured and catalogued in digital format.
The García-Nakata “Paper” files and artifacts consist of personal and professional correspondence, exhibition catalogs and flyers, postcards, posters, art (Lorraine’s and other artists), photographs, videos, scheduling books, publications with LGN contributions, newspaper clippings, and other materials. The materials document Lorraine Garcia-Nakata's involvement with the California State Arts Council, California State Summer School for the Arts, as appointments as SF Arts Commissioner and National Museum of the American Latino, Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) artist collective, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Children’s Book Press, Lead Artist for San Quentin State Prison, the Democratic Party, art exhibitions, and other associations. The addendum also contains correspondence from Garcia-Nakata's professional colleagues, fellow artists, friends, family, and other associates. The catalog record can be accessed from Searchworks: Stanford Libraries, LGN
Lorraine Garcia-Nakata. Garcia-Nakata has played a major role in Chicano/Latinx, San Francisco, national and international arts communities for five decades. Her work is significant for the following major reasons:
Lorraine García-Nakata is a California-based visual artist who has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. Along with her record as an artist. She is also a writer and musician.
Garcia-Nakata was one of the six founding members of the historic Sacramento artist collective, the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF), and the only woman among the six founding members (along with José Montoya, Estéban Villa, Juanishi Orosco, Stan Padilla and Juan Cervantes). The RCAF’s impact on Chicano art, California muralism and other visual genres can hardly be overstated; neither can Garcia-Nakata’s influence on the next generations of artists.
Garcia-Nakata’s contributions to curation, arts and cultural policy, program development, community engagement, philanthropy, advocacy, community engagement, arts instruction, and development of progressive education programs, particularly in her capacities as as Organizational Grant Administrator with the California State Arts Council, Associate Managing Director/Director of Education of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Visual Arts Chair-California State Summer School for the Arts, long-standing association with organizations as S. F. Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco Historical Society, appointments as Commissioner to the San Francisco Arts Commission and Federal Commissioner exploring the creation of the National Museum of the American Latino, and multiple other endeavors, all of which have contributed enormously to the understanding of art and culture in our lives. She has been instrumental in introducing the concept of “first voice" (speaking for oneself) which is fundamental to Black/Brown/Indigenous people, and women in particular. Garcia-Nakata has served as a mentor to multiple generations of emerging Chicano/Latinx artists, curators, historians, educators and community organizers across ethnic cultures.
Garcia-Nakata has produced art in a wide number of visual art genres: painting, prints, drawing; sculpture, ceramics as well as in the fields of music and literature. The documentation of her work and life that comprises this archive is a worthy addition to Stanford University Libraries collections that is building its holdings in Chicano/Latinx studies and contemporary art.
Examples of artifacts in The Lorraine Garcia-Nakata Papers:
