Writer Josie Méndez-Negrete and ceramicist Verónica Castillo have worked to make Chicano art more visible, including to SUNY Oswego students.

Méndez-Negrete and Castillo both appeared as guest speakers on Oct. 2 for the fourth webinar in the creative writing department’s Living Writers Series.

Méndez-Negrete is a professor emeritus of Mexican-American studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In June she published “Rooted in Clay: Verónica Castillo y su arte,” a book about Castillo. Méndez-Negrete stressed that the book was not a complete biography of Castillo’s life, but rather a testament to Castillo’s art and philosophy.

Creative writing professor Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, who hosted the talk, described Méndez-Negrete as someone who “stirs the waters with words” with her “tenacious” nonfiction.

Castillo is known for her Tree of Life candelabras. She learned the art of ceramics from her family, the Castillo Orta, who are renowned for their folk art. Castillo could not speak English for the webinar, so an interpreter paraphrased her responses to students’ questions.

“It’s been an honor to work with Verónica,” Méndez-Negrete said. “And to get to the world an ethic of responsibility and an aesthetic that values and appreciates the conflicts, the everyday conflicts people deal with as they’re trying to live their lives.”

Méndez-Negrete intended for the book to serve as inspiration to other artists.

“I think people who do art of whatever form need to understand her life so they can see how she’s shifting and changing the world for the better,” Méndez-Negrete said.

Students studied both of the guests’ work before the webinar to prepare their questions.

“Looking at both [of the guests’] work, there’s a clear theme of activism and fighting for justice for those who cannot do such on their own,” Sierra Baldock, a student in Frazier’s class, said.

Méndez-Negrete and Castillo’s webinar occurred in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Their webinar was the second in the Living Writers Series to feature Hispanic guests; Poet Juan Felipe Herrera previously spoke on Sept. 27.