The Center for the Study of the American West at West Texas A&M University will present its fourth annual “Forgotten Frontera” community conversation online via Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. The topic will be “Art, Activism, Community,” centered on Amarillo’s barrio mural art project.

Timed during Hispanic Heritage Month, the “Forgotten Frontera” program brings together scholars, local experts, and the general public to learn about the under-appreciated Mexican American history and heritage of the Texas Panhandle and Southern Plains region. Previous events have focused on migrant agricultural labor, issues of justice, and the history of railroad development.

This year’s event, inspired by the murals on 10th Avenue and elsewhere in downtown Amarillo, celebrates the role of public art in defining community and drawing attention to that community’s heritage.

The panelists for the event will be Joey Martinez, the Lubbock artist who painted the 10th Avenue murals; Teresa Kenedy, president of the Barrio Neighborhood Planning Committee; WTAMU Spanish Professor Andrew Reynolds; and noted Latino Studies Professor José Limón, now retired from University of Texas Austin and Notre Dame.

The goal of the event is to hear from panelists and to encourage comments and questions from the audience, which may be challenging due to the event’s pivot to online format.

“We have to adapt to the circumstances,” said CSAW Director Alex Hunt, “but the event is, in our view, too important just to cancel it for this year.”

Hunt said that the event has been successful in bringing together a growing group of scholars and community members dedicated to furthering awareness of Mexican American history in the region.

“It’s a long and complicated history that spans early people who put Spanish names on our map to current populations who came here to work on railroads, the meat packing industry, and in other jobs,” Hunt said. “Their contributions should be better known and appreciated.”

To register for this free event, visit the CSAW website at wtamu.edu/csaw. Registrants will be emailed the Zoom meeting link the day of the event. Questions can be emailed to csaw@wtamu.edu.

-West Texas A&M University