Over two days in the spring of 1974 — May 27 and May 29 — car bombings in Boulder killed six activists in the Chicano Student Movement. The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is paying homage to the six activists, who became known as Los Seis de Boulder, with a series of collaborative public events and a sculpture this summer.
The programs and sculpture are all part of “El Movimiento sigue,” an exhibition developed by Grupo Folklórico Sabor Latino, Lorenzo J. Ramirez, Mateo Manuel Vela and United Mexican American Students and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (UMAS y MECHA) to commemorate the lives and activism of Los Seis de Boulder.
The community-generated sculpture, created by Los Seis de Boulder Sculpture Project and Jasmine Baetz, is on view in front of the museum through October 23, 2022, as part of the InsideOut series of temporary artistic interventions that spark public discourse.
Earlier this year, the museum held a three-month open call for ideas for programs that both honor Los Seis de Boulder and help inspire conversations around the current state of equal opportunity for all people in the community. Family members of Los Seis de Boulder, community member and facilitator Sylvia Montero and museum staffers formed the committee that reviewed and selected the programs, including two that were held over Labor Day weekend.
You can still participate by attending:
By Any Means We Deem Necessary: An Archival Exhibit of the 1994 Ethnic Studies Protests at CU Boulder
Presented by Mateo Manuel Vela and UMAS y MECHA
Tuesday, June 6 through Friday, June 10 in BMoCA’s Present Box space
Free to attend
Per BMoCA: “Mateo Manuel Vela and UMAS y MECHA present an exhibition to raise awareness about the 1994 Ethnic Studies protests at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder. The exhibition explores a centerpoint of forgotten BIPoC and Chicanx history and demonstrates how these protests were linked to the legacies of student activism in UMAS EOP (United Mexican American Students Equal Opportunity Program) of the 1960s–70s and the legacy of Los Seis de Boulder among other BIPoC-led student movements at CU Boulder. The exhibition features a range of archival sources and documents.”
Community Panel and Discussion: Re-examining the Legacy of the 1994 Ethnic Studies Protests at CU Boulder
Presented by Mateo Manuel Vela and UMAS y MECHA
Friday, June 10, 5-7 p.m. at BMoCA
Free to attend
Per BMoCA: “Join Mateo Manuel Vela and UMAS y MECHA for an interactive discussion about the history of CU Boulder social movements from the 1960s-1990s. The program and exhibition “By Any Means We Deem Necessary: An Archival Exhibit of the 1994 Ethnic Studies Protests at CU Boulder” feature archival sources and newspapers. Participants will be provided with guided questions, copies of these documents, and art supplies to interpret and engage with the history of the CU Ethnic Studies protests. Afterward, participants are invited to join in an intergenerational dialogue about the links between CU Boulder BIPoC and Chicanx protest movements across time and how the social movements can be sustained at CU in a new political and economic moment. The panel will include former CU Boulder Alumni and participants in the 1994 Ethnic Studies protests. The discussion will be moderated by Vela and other UMAS y MECHA members.”
Learn more about these and other public programs at BMoCA online at: bmoca.org/programs/public
