About Proyecto Rescate

This project has made available to the general public and to schools a collection of rare visual images in the Chicano cultural arts. These cataloged images were drawn from the archives of four of the largest Chicano/Latino cultural centers in California. The centers' unique collections were established earlier in CEMA so that they could be preserved and made accessible for research and study. These centers include San Diego's Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Francisco's Galeria de la Raza, Sacramento's Royal Chicano Air Force, and Los Angeles' Self-Help Graphics & Art.

Proyecto RESCATE is the name given to this project that has made a Chicano visual arts digital image collection accessible to Internet users. The project's acronyms stand for Reconstituting Selected Chicano Archives for Transitioning into Electronic Format. This digital image collection now amounts to close to 1,400 visual arts images that were selected from the vast slide collections in the archives of the four cultural centers. The selections represent many different facets of Chicano cultural arts and include art work by well-known and not-so-well-known Chican(a)o artists. Included are images of silk screen art, murals, installation art, cajas and nichos, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and cultural processions as in Dia de los Muertos. A taxonomy is included that defines the terminology used.

Funding for Proyecto RESCATE was made possible through a grant from the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) administered in California by the State Librarian. Proyecto RESCATE is being expanded to offer its viewers an opportunity to experience and enjoy Chicano culture through a cross-section of the visual arts. We hope that viewers will find this material valuable for study and personal cultural enrichment.

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