May 2-31, 2003
"My Hands, My Brush: Extentions of My Heart" by Eva G. Mapp
at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, 221 Congress Ave
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with South Texas treasure, Eva G. Mapp and La Peņa Latino Arts Organization. Join us for a celebration in honor of the courageous individuals who continue to stand for expression, liberation, and peace in the face of oppression.
McNair Scholar Eva G. Mapp, a woman of extraordinary courage, says that, "My mind is always filled with colors and my heart is filled with the desire to paint." Eva's courage is exemplified by her circumstance and her story. Raised in a family of nine by working class Hispanics, Eva picked cotton until she was eight. She began an auto-paint and body apprenticeship with her father before she enlisted in the United States Air Force at the age of eighteen. After six years and the Vietnam War, Eva moved to Georgia where she raised three children and worked as an Auto-Paint and Body Mechanic for twenty years. In 1998, Eva moved to Kingsville, Texas because of medical reasons. She became disabled with Fibromyalgia, a painful muscle syndrome, but continued to pursue her education despite her pain. "I have found that when I paint I do not feel this pain," she says. Eva will graduate this year with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She plans to continue her studies towards a Masters Degree of Fine Arts as a recipient of the Hispanic Scholarship, and will study in Oaxaca, Mexico as part of her research.