March, art exhibit set in San Luis to honor Cesar Chavez

The public is invited to join in the march that will start at the UFW’s former office site

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — The legacy of Cesar Chavez will be celebrated here later this month with a public march followed by an art exhibition dedicated to the late farm labor leader.

Campesinos Sin Fronteras, a Somerton-based social service organization, has slated the event for March 31, the birthday of Chavez, who was born in the Gila Valley and died in San Luis in April 1993.

The public is invited to join in the march that will start at the former office in San Luis of the United Farm Workers, the union Chavez co-founded and led. Leaving at 9 a.m. from the office located at 741 S. Cesar Chavez St., the march will proceed south to Urtuzuastegui Street and then turn north onto Main Street, ending at the city’s cultural center, also named for Chavez.

A floral arrangement will be laid at a statue of Chavez in front of the cultural center, 1015 N. Main St., after which the labor leader’s life will be narrated in a video presentation inside. Also taking place inside the cultural center will be an art exhibit dedicated to Chavez and the farm labor movement.

Various social service agencies in the area will set up booths inside the cultural center during the event to provide information about health, housing, child abuse prevention and other topics.

Campesinos Sin Fronteras is organizing the event, which has been titled “Justicia,” in part to preserve Chavez’s legacy among younger generations, Liliana Arroyo, a spokeswoman for the organization, said.

Chavez died of natural causes at a San Luis home while in the area to attend a trial in Yuma County Superior Court that involved the UFW.

The art exhibition will display photographs, drawings, paintings and art in other media relating to Chavez and the farm labor movement of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

Campesinos is accepting submissions of art related to that theme for the exhibit. Submission can be art people have created themselves or that they have acquired. For more information, call (928) 6271060 o (928) 627-5995.

Campesinos plans to make the Justicia celebration an annual observance.

FILE PHOTO BY CESAR NEYOY/BAJO EL SOL MARIA ROBLES SHOWS SAN LUIS MAYOR GERARDO SANCHEZ THE DETAILS OF A POSTER given to her by the widow of the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez last April. Robles donated the poster, a copy of a work by Mexican artist Octavio Ocampo that depicts Chavez...