Gilberto Cárdenas, revered for his advocacy for Chicanos and Latino art, dies at 79
Summary
Gilberto Cárdenas, a respected sociologist and advocate for Latino and Chicano identity through art and academia, died at 79 in Austin, Texas. He was known for documenting the Chicano Movement, creating Mexican American Studies programs, and building a large collection of Latino art that he and his wife donated to several museums.Key Facts
- Gilberto Cárdenas died at age 79 after a long illness.
- He grew up in San Gabriel, California, and was involved in the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
- Cárdenas used photography to document Chicano marches, meetings, and community events.
- He earned a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame and worked for many years as a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
- He founded Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas and later created the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame.
- Cárdenas and his wife collected nearly 20,000 pieces of Latino art and donated about half to the Blanton Museum of Art and other major museums.
- President George W. Bush appointed him to two commissions, including one to explore creating a National Museum of the American Latino.
- He served on the board of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) from 1993 to 2012.
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