John Sierra is a son of the Valley. He was born here and lived his entire life here. And here is where he developed his talent for painting and educated young people interested in art. A teacher and a student, he never stops learning and expressing himself. Today, a major retrospective of his work is on display at Arte Américas (arteamericas.org/) until Aug. 21.
Sierra was born in Kerman in 1942. His father was a Mexican farmer and his mother was born here. They had nine children. They later moved to Biola, a small farming community west of Fresno. Sierra attended elementary school there. The family then moved to Fresno, where, despite financial constraints, they were able to send Sierra to a Catholic school, where he finished high school.
“I don’t remember having an art class at school,” says Sierra. “In high school, they separated the boys from the girls…I think they did have an art class.
“The closest thing to art was a mechanical drawing class, where we basically copied drawings from books.”
But he connected with other young people who liked to draw. “They would draw like cartoons and then share them with the class. For example, they would draw the teacher and we would laugh. They captured the expressions well,” Sierra says with a smile.
“They were drawings like the ones in Mad magazine. I was more into drawing at home.”
After completing high school, Sierra continued his studies at Fresno City College. Although he took art classes, he found that teachers would ask for projects “but they wouldn’t teach us; maybe they assumed we already knew how to draw and paint.” Again, Sierra connected with his classmates and began working in a graphic arts studio, where he learned the trade.
It was the time of the Vietnam War (1965–1973), and Sierra was drafted. He was sent to a base near Waco, Texas, for training, and because they needed a technical illustrator, he dedicated himself to creating graphics.
“I arrived in Waco at night, and no one knew where the base was. I finally got a ride. I was actually working off base, where there wasn’t even a guard. So some guys would sometimes invite girls,” Sierra says, laughing.
He spent a little more than three years there, “which passed slowly; there wasn’t much to do there.”
Back in the Valley, Sierra returned to school with the goal of graduating and teaching. Not satisfied with his teachers, he emphasized self-education and finding his own style. In this process, being part of the Chicano Movement contributed to his development. And much more.
His participation in the art collective “La Brocha del Valle” allowed him to delve deeper into his cultural roots and develop a defined artistic style, in addition to exhibitions and painted murals. Sierra’s images illustrate Valley life and that of the farmworkers.
During the turbulent years following the founding of the United Farm Workers (UFW), led by Dolores Huerta and César Chávez, Sierra became familiar with Teatro Campesino, participating in Luis Valdéz’s theater classes.
“I volunteered to create a poster and logo for the group, and he liked the idea,” says Sierra. “After a while, I noticed he changed the logo, but about 15 years ago, he went back to the original.”
In 1974, he presented an exhibition at Fresno State as part of his master’s thesis. He later earned his teaching credential.
Sierra and Ernie Palomino, another pillar of Chicano painting in the Valley, met and discussed the possibility of having “a place” to exhibit their work, along with that of other colleagues.
“Ernie never clarified what place he was thinking of—a gallery? a museum? We ended up doing exhibitions in neighborhoods, in abandoned places,” Sierra says, laughing. “Well, I had another idea, and I thought it was time to make it happen.”
Around that time, Sierra received a grant to create a mural at the State House in downtown Fresno, capturing aspects of life in the Valley and its residents, with an emphasis on working people. The mural measures 67′ × 100′ and was renovated in 1998. It consists of three panels similar to a triptych. The work took more than 18 months.
“It was complicated because I used models to portray the people, like my wife, my father, neighbors…I took pictures of them, but it still took time.” The mural was completed in 1982.
But Sierra didn’t stop there; he continued searching for a place where artists like himself could exhibit and interact. In the mid-1980s, at the initiative of a Mexican businessman from Fresno, Centro Bellas Artes was created. There were only a few artists in this new group, and internal differences gradually emerged.
Sierra, along with Jerry and Nancy Marquez and Bob Arroyo, decided to create another space led by people interested in art. This would be the origin of Arte Américas, which was initially located in a small space next to the Warnors Theatre on Fulton Street. Sierra established that name and designed the new organization’s logo.
In 1995, Arte Américas moved to its current building, located at 1630 Van Ness Avenue in Fresno (corner of Calaveras Street).
Because Arte Américas’ original space was too small, Sierra sought support from the Metropolitan Museum for its Day of the Dead exhibition, the first of its kind in Fresno in 1983, beginning a tradition now popular in our region.
Sierra’s immersion in Chicano art contributed to the development of his identity. Throughout his school years, including high school, references to Mexican culture were almost nonexistent. The images were more related to the Aztecs and the missions (of Spanish origin) than to the people of the Valley.
Sierra’s work has been exhibited in galleries and private collections in major cities, and he is currently considered the most important local Chicano artist of our time. He and his wife, Virginia, had three children.
The retrospective of his work at Arte Américas is a well-deserved honor of his creativity, endurance and his love for the people of our Valley.
