J. Leigh Garcia Creates Commissioned Public Artwork in Cleveland

J. Leigh Garcia, assistant professor of print media and photography, was recently commissioned to create a public art project in Cleveland. The piece Garcia contributed called "My Sister's Tortillas" is a 376” x 121.5” digital print of a work originally made with corn husk, handmade washi paper, screenprint, cast paper, digital output, illustration board.

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"My grandmother and her sisters spent a lot of time in their kitchen in Monterrey, Mexico grinding corn by hand with a metate to prepare masa for handmade tortillas. Two generations later, my sister and I purchase pre-packaged tortillas at the grocery store for our tacos and migas. While my sister and I may not engage in the same labor-intensive process of making tortillas from scratch that our grandmother and great-aunts did, when we make tortilla-based meals together, we feel connected to each other and the generations of sisters before us who have enjoyed this food together," said Garcia in an artist statement. 

The piece was commissioned by an Arts and Greenspace organization called L.A.N.D. studio, Inc. as part of a project called LANDFORM. LANDFORM is a series of projects in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, where L.A.N.D. Studio, Inc. curates the Art Wall located in Public Square on the back of Rebol Café (facing the entrance of Tower City). LANDFORM was developed from grant we received from the Fowler Family Foundation.

Image: J. Leigh Garcia, "My Sister’s Tortillas," corn husk, handmade washi paper, screenprint, cast paper, digital output, illustration board, 2022