Melanie Cervantes: Bringing Back Ourselves

 

Haight Street Art Center is proud to present Melanie Cervantes: Bring Back Ourselves, now open in the Garden Gallery.

 

    Check out an interview with the artist below!

 

 

Can you tell us about your upbringing? Where did you grow up? What influences stand out from your childhood?

 

I grew up in Southern California, in a small working-class Mexican family in the town of Lawndale. From a young age, I was surrounded by creativity and resourcefulness—qualities that deeply shaped how I approach making things. My mother taught me to sew by example, and I learned many of my foundational skills alongside her. Through her, I discovered color theory by choosing fabrics for the clothes she made me; I learned how to transform a two-dimensional line drawing into a three-dimensional, structured piece that fit the body it was made for. Most importantly, I learned how to bring a vision to life through persistence and craft.

The injustices I witnessed in my community instilled in me a strong sense of social justice, even before I had the language to describe those experiences. Early influences included traditional animation (I’ve always loved cartoons), coloring books, Sanrio aesthetics, and line work. When you look at Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, or Keroppi, you can see how those bold lines shaped my visual sensibility. The vibrant colors of the 1980s—especially fluorescents and neons—also left a lasting impression. They continue to appear throughout my work, a joyful echo of the colors I adored as a seven-year-old, ponytailed Chicanita.

What was your path to making a living as an artist or choosing a career in the arts?
 

My path to making a living as an artist has been shaped by curiosity, community, and persistence. Growing up in a working-class Mexican family in Lawndale, creativity was part of everyday life. My mother taught me to sew, and I learned early on how art could transform ideas into something tangible.

It wasn’t until college, in a Xicanx art history class that required making artwork, that I realized I could take art seriously. Even then, I was hesitant to call myself an artist. After graduating, I took a screenprinting class at a community college, which opened up new ways to combine my art with social and political messages. For years, I developed as a cultural worker while also holding a full-time career in philanthropy. About ten years ago, I made the leap to focus on making art full-time.
 

You are well-known for your artistic, social political posters. How do you see the role(s) of the poster and how do you see that role changing (or not)?

 

For me, posters have always been about communication and connection. They’re a way to make ideas visible to express resistance, solidarity, and hope in a form that people can see, share, and feel. A poster can turn a wall, a street corner or a march into a space for conversation. It can remind people that they’re not alone, that their struggles and dreams are part of something bigger.

Even though the way we share images has changed…with so much happening online now… I don’t think the role of the poster or the political graphic has gone away. If anything, it’s evolved. The same spirit that lived in hand-printed posters now moves through digital spaces but one does not supplant the other. It is important that they exist in all spaces where people. The tools are different, but the intention is the same: to reach people, inspire action, and create visibility for the things that matter.

What are the challenges in creating posters with social activist themes?
 

Creating posters with social justice themes can be hard. One challenge is figuring out how to take really complex issues and make them clear and powerful in a single image. You want something that grabs attention but still honors the communities and struggles you’re representing in the work, without oversimplifying or exploiting them.

Another challenge is thinking about how people will experience the work whether it’s on a wall in the community or scrolling through social media. Doing this work without dedicated funding or support makes it especially hard to sustain, especially as the economy and the chokehold of capitalism make it harder and harder to survive. And there’s always the pressure of time and resources: these posters often need to be timely and urgent, but you also want to make them with care and quality.
 

How do your personal experiences influence your art?
 

My personal experiences are inseparable from my art…they are the heart and the guiding principle of everything I create. Growing up as a Xicana in a working-class family in Southern California, I learned early on how making, creating, and problem-solving were part of daily life. These experiences taught me lessons about color, form, and transforming ideas into tangible objects, while also shaping my understanding of art as a practice rooted in care, devotion, and community.

My work is also shaped by the struggles, injustices, and resilience I witnessed in my communities. These experiences inform not just the content of my art, but the way I approach collaboration and cultural work. From my earliest stencil and poster workshops to large-scale installations and soft sculptures, I’ve sought to center the stories and voices of those too often erased, creating spaces for people to connect, reflect, and act. Working alongside communities, whether locally or internationally, has reinforced my belief that art can be a tool for solidarity, social transformation, and collective care.

Whether I am printing a poster, shaping a soft sculpture, or organizing a workshop, I carry corazón—a heart-driven commitment to cultural memory, social justice, and the power of shared creativity. My lived experience is not just inspiration; it is methodology, guiding me to build work that honors, amplifies, and transforms the lives of the communities I come from.


Anything new or on the near horizon you want to develop, or continue to develop or explore as an artist (that you want to share with us)?
 

On the horizon, I’m focusing on developing soft sculptures, which combines my skills as a sewist with my art practice. I’m also exploring ways to integrate screenprinting into the process, layering my visual language onto these three-dimensional forms. I’m excited by how these pieces can exist in space and invite a different kind of interaction than my posters or prints.

I’m also interested in creating work that’s more collaborative and participatory—pieces that invite communities to engage directly, respond, and even contribute to the artwork. At the same time, I continue to push the boundaries of color, line, and imagery, revisiting the visual language I’ve loved since I was a child but applying it to new themes and stories. For me, it’s always about making work that is accessible, resonant, and a catalyst for dialogue.
 

Any advice you would give to your younger self in choosing the path of becoming a full-time artist?
 

I would have encouraged my younger self to draw every day, to believe I could do anything I wanted, and to be free and enjoy expressing myself and thinking about and responding to the world around me through art-making. I would tell her to kick self-doubt to the curb.