Meet Sarai Montes (she/her), an Indigenous Oaxacan (Ñuu Savi) and Salvadoran multidisciplinary artist born and raised in the Bay Area. She notes growing up here has shaped her relationship with political and public art. She notes her profound appreciation for political art has played in historical and contemporary social movements. Her upbringing here in the Bay Area has shown her that art can be a way towards solidarity with other communities and be used as a tool to hold space and talk about difficult yet important topics with people of all ages and backgrounds. 

She shares, “Growing up as an Indigenous person in the diaspora in a place like the Bay is a very unique experience, but it’s such a comforting feeling when I can create art about my experiences and find others who resonate with it.” Sarai’s creative process begins with a personal experience, memory, or struggle that is connected to a broader movement or social issue. Through her artworks she expresses not only a celebration of the communities she is proud to come from, but also frustrations with the issues she sees around her. She shares that the process and time it takes for her to create a piece gives her the space to contemplate more about the issues depicted in her work. She also uses oral traditions and political education outside of artmaking to fuel her creativity.

“Creating art also allows me to assert my presence as an Indigenous woman in the diaspora despite the continued erasure of Indigenous Peoples.” Sarai is apprenticing at Mission Grafica, MCCLA and is working on a new body of work.

From September 15 to October 15th, Alejandra Rubio guest curated "We The Artists" featuring 5 standout Bay Area Latine artists, highlighting the modern artistic identity and representation.

Feature Published: May 26, 2023
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