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Eva Castellanoz

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Eva Castellanoz
Castellanoz in 1987
Born
Genoveva Silvia Juarez

(1939-11-18) November 18, 1939 (age 84)
AwardsNational Heritage Fellowship, 1987

Eva Castellanoz (born November 18, 1939) is an artist, activist, educator, healer, and spokesperson for Oregon's Latino community.

Life

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She was born in 1939 to María Concepción and Fidel Silva in Valle de Santiago, Mexico; her given name was Genoveva Silvia Juarez.[1] After the death of her five older siblings from disease, Eva and her family moved to Pharr, Texas in 1942. Castellanoz's family settled in Nyssa, Oregon in 1957.[2] She met and married her husband Teodoro in Texas when she was fifteen, and was pregnant with her first of nine children when she arrived in Oregon.[2]

After the birth of her last child, Castellenoz began a healing practice that blends Spanish-Arabic and indigenous Mexican traditions, serving a variety of communities, including migrant workers without health insurance. She has worked with young people, including many gang members, and sees art as a tool for personal and social transformation.[2]

Art

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Both her parents were folk artists who taught her to be resourceful with her art and use supplies she had on hand.[3] She worked in the sugar beet and onion fields as her children grew, but also traveled to Mexico and was inspired to make her own type of art.[2] She learned to make coronas in the form of wax and paper floral "crowns" central to weddings and quinceañeras.[4] She is also known for her writing, developing a love of poetry growing up in Texas.[5] Her writing reflects a focus on the importance of tradition and wisdom, and is noted by other authors as an inspiration.[6] Castellanoz has been recognized by heritage and arts communities through awards and service, such as a 1987 National Heritage Fellowship,[7] board membership 1997-2001 on the Oregon Arts Commission, and presentations on Mexican traditional arts at the Smithsonian Institution and in various Northwest libraries and museums.[2]

Castellanoz lives in Oregon.

References

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  1. ^ Mulcahy, Joanne B. (2010). Remedios: The Healing Life of Eva Castellanoz. Trinity University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-59534-061-0. OCLC 897050036.
  2. ^ a b c d e Mulcahy, Joanne. "Eva Castellanoz (1939- )". Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "Oregon Historical Society". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 111 (1): 108. March 2010. doi:10.5403/oregonhistq.111.1.108. ISSN 0030-4727.
  4. ^ "Introduction: Guitars, Cultures, People and Places", Guitar Cultures, Hart Publishing, 2001, doi:10.5040/9781474214841.ch-001, ISBN 978-1-85973-429-2
  5. ^ Schneider, William S., 1946- Crowell, Aron, 1952- (2008). Living with stories : telling, re-telling, and remembering. Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87421-689-9. OCLC 180989549.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Barber, Katrine (2019). ""We were at our journey's end": Settler Sovereignty Formation in Oregon". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 120 (4): 382. doi:10.5403/oregonhistq.120.4.0382. ISSN 0030-4727. S2CID 213376601.
  7. ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1987". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved December 4, 2020.