Remembering Dolores Huerta: Artists Barbara Carrasco, Judith F. Baca, Yreina D. Cervántez, and Vincent Valdez Reflect on the Iconic Activist’s Legacy

“It’s hard to believe this amazing icon is gone from our world,” artist Judith F. Baca said of Dolores Huerta, the labor activist who died last week at 96.

A cofounder of the United Farm Workers of America, Huerta is best-known for her decades-long dedication to fighting for the labor rights of farmworkers in the fields of California and more broadly for helping to galvanize the Chicano civil rights movement. She recruited members to the union’s cause, led strikes and ensured that companies felt the impact of the absence of the farmworkers whom they exploited, and negotiated the contracts that provided material change to the lives and working conditions for campesinos and campesinas. “She turned the phrase ‘Sí, se puede!’ into a chant that animated rallies and marches well into a new century,” as the Los Angeles Times put it.

“She was always conscious of having women be at the table,” artist Barbara Carrasco told ARTnews, noting that as a UFW negotiator Huerta, one of the few women in a leadership position, was labeled “the dragon lady” for her fierceness. Carrasco said she will always remember Huerta as a nurturing figure who mentored countless women over the decades.

After leaving UFW in the 1980s, she would continue to advocate for labor rights and women rights. In 2002, Huerta received the Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship, which came with a $100,000 grant. She decided to use the funds start her an eponymous foundation, which aims to “cultivate empowered volunteer organizations actively pursuing social justice,” according to its website.

Huerta’s status as an icon has also translated into the art world, with numerous artists depicting her image over the years, including Baca, Carrasco, Yreina D. Cervántez, and Vincent Valdez, all of whom share their memories of Huerta below.