Jesus Barraza

Who is Jesus Barraza?

Jesus Barraza is a print maker and graphic artist who started working as a layout editor in 1994 of the Xicana oppositional newspaper La Voz de Berkeley. He worked as a graphic designer for student groups at UC Berkeley, community organizations and with Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez designing Shades of Power, the newsletter for the Institute for Racial Justice.

In the late 1990s Barraza's became known for his designs for issues regarding the defense of Ethnic Studies, affirmative action, immigrants rights, woman's rights and youth activism. During this time Barraza worked for MEXA, third world Liberation Front at UC Berkeley, Olin, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Schools Not Jails, National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Mujeres Activas en Letras y Ciencias.

In 2001 Barraza worked at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in the San Francisco Mission District as head designer. While working there Barraza worked with Juan R. Fuentes, to create screen printed posters for the Centers events at Mission Grafica, the printmaking studio at MCCLA. During the two years Barraza worked at MCCLA, he created dozens of screen printed posters and prints and had the opportunity to be mentored by Fuentes, Calixto Robles and Michael Roman in various screen printing techniques.