WKU News

Folk Studies MA Student Camille Acosta Presents Research on Artistic Responses to El Paso Shooting

Thursday, February 20th, 2020

On Saturday, February 22nd, WKU Folk Studies MA student Camille Acosta will present her original research at "20/20 (Re)Vision," the 13th annual OSU/IU Student Research Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Her presentation is titled "'They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds': A Folk Art Response to Tragedy in Chuco Town." Ms. Acosta's ethnographic research explores vernacular artistic responses to the tragic shooting in El Paso, Texas, which claimed 22 lives at a local Wal-Mart in August 2019. The attack targeted Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, and Acosta's research demonstrates how members of these communities have drawn on their cultural heritage to produce life-affirming expressions in the wake of racist hatred. Her research documents art ranging from spontaneous memorials, to t-shirts, graffiti, and graphic design. As she puts it, "From the moment the tragedy occurred, artists and creatives from across the city were hard at work creating art that would aid, memorialize, and heal."

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