About Us

A joint project of artist-activist’s Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes Dignidad Rebelde is a space for collaboration and artistic skill-sharing that is grounded in a Xicana worldview and fueled by their collective desire to support grassroots organizing for social justice. Members of the Taller Tupac Amaru, a print studio based in Oakland, Barraza and Cervantes are committed to the Taller’s mission of producing and distributing screen-printed political posters and fostering resurgence in the screen-printing medium for social change. 

Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker and digital artist based in the San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world. Barraza’s work continues the tradition of graphic art in the spirit of Jose Gaudalupe Posada, OSSPAL and Juan R. Fuentes.
In 1998 Barraza was a co-founder of ten12, a collective of digital artists. He has also worked as Graphic Designer for the Mission Cultural Center/Mission Grafica, where Calixto Robles, Juan R. Fuentes and Michael Roman mentored Barraza in various screen printing methods. In 2003, he co-founded the Taller Tupac Amaru printing studio to foster resurgence in the screen printing medium, where he has complete over 100 prints. Additionally he is a partner at Tumis Inc., a bilingual design studio helping to integrate art with emerging technologies.

Click here for Jesus Barraza's Resume

Melanie Cervantes creates a powerful visual language to declare that a peaceful, sustainable and just world is possible. She is an artist trained by library books, family, peers and experimentation. Producing her work in various mediums including pen and ink, acrylic, screenprinting, embroidery, fiber arts, and spraypainted stencils Melanie infuses her indigenous internationalist worldview, spirituality and politic into all her art.  She views her art practice as an important component of a growing social movement for global social justice. Her art moves those viewed as marginal to the center and features empowered youth, elders, women, queers, indigenous peoples and communities of color. As a member of the artist-activist collective Taller Tupac Amaru she produces political posters in collaboration with grassroots organizing efforts that are working to build collective power. Following the tradition of such artists as Juana Alicia, Malaquias Montoya, Judy Baca, Emory Douglas, La Mujeres Muralistas and Diego Rivera- Melanie has made a life long commitment to being an artist for the people.

Click here for Melanie Cervantes' Resume