René Amado and Nate Mata, Chicano Activist Artists

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Photo courtesy of Nate Mata

René Amado and Nate Mata

René Amado and Nate Mata at Mata's exhibition 'Smile Now Cry Later' at The Branch in Racine, Wisconsin (2025)

Last month, the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) wing of the Department of Homeland Security did a raid on the city of Los Angeles, arresting 722 immigrants in the first 10 days of June, 417 of them having no criminal record.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin has had a small but alarming number of cases involving entrapment and self-deportation of immigrants. Racine’s Mexican American community of Racine has responded with events promoting Mexican culture and cuisine. In May, The Branch, a bar and venue for civic events, hosted an artist showcase from senior high school artist Nate Mata entitled “Smile Now, Cry Later,” which saluted the resilience of the artist’s family along with touching on aspects of Chicano culture. Mata’s teacher is photographer René Amado, whose most recent exhibition, “Low”, a retrospective on the culture around low rider custom vehicles, premiered at the Racine Art Museum last year.

Their next event together, “La Gente,” a Mexican American art showcase will be held on August 1 from 4-9 p.m. at 318 Main Street in Racine. It will showcase Mata’s work along with a diverse collection of Chicano artists. Amado and Mata took time to discuss the exhibit, the sociological context of Chicano culture and art as activism.

Describe how you came to your artistic careers.

Mata: My artistic career started when I was three years old. Ever since I could pick up a pencil, it just felt natural to me. I was more artistically able than some of the other kids in my preschool and one of my teachers recommended that I go to an arts elementary school. Ever since then, it felt like things took off from there. I stayed focused on my art, focused on my ability and stayed consistent with what I was doing which led me to where I am today.

Amado: I started with art when I was a kid. I learned to draw in elementary school and really liked it. Eventually, that turned into drawing all the time in school. Later on, after high school, that turned into working In music, then a career in graphic design, and now I’m in photography and videography.

How do you define the Chicano Movement and its impact in your art?

Mata: I define the Chicano movement as the movement that started in the 1960s to give us Mexican Americans a voice. Seeing how people like Cesar Chavez led the people to fight for their rights made me think I could do the same thing with art. I want art to be seen and make an impact on the people who look at it, to take something away from it all. I want people to see what Chicano really is, and that we aren’t criminals or animals like the media says we are, but people with a love for our culture and roots.

Amado: For me, as a teenager in the early ‘90s, I discovered Low Rider Magazine and at the same time, there were a lot of Chicano rappers making a name for themselves and become known. That’s where a lot of the influence came about for me. It’s been something that has been important to me, it helped me find my identity as a teenager. As a Mexican American, there’s Mexican people out there who think, “If you’re a Mexican American, you aren’t Mexican enough and the Americans don’t think you’re American enough if you’re Mexican.” Learning about Chicano culture and finding people I could relate to really helped me out and influenced me in who I wanted to be. Now, as a grown man, that’s who I am, that’s the lifestyle I live.

Has the Midwest’s uniqueness influenced your art and culture?

Amado: It did influence me because as a teenager, most of the stuff I was looking at was based in California. In the Midwest, you don’t see any of the Cholo or low rider subculture a whole lot. Dressing like a Cholo was kind of a rebellion because you didn’t see it around here very much. It was me trying to say, “this is me,” and because I’d see the culture so dominant in other places, it made me want to travel and experience other things, I wanted to be more immersed in that culture. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gone to California a lot and I’ve done a lot more with low riding and things like that. Being from here, it pushed me to go where it was more of a common thing and immerse myself in that. In Texas, you’re more around Latino culture and Hispanic people. Same with all the times I’ve visited Los Angeles and San Jose, those are areas where Latinos are more prominent in the community. It’s really pushed me to get out and travel to find more of Chicano culture.

Mata: I wouldn’t say the Midwest had an impact on my art, but small-town Racine did. Being in this city where everyone knows each other, it makes you want to push outside the box. Being here is nice, but there’s more places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas that can show my art. Being in Racine makes me want to push more.

What impact has the current political climate had on your artistic community?

 Mata: I try not to get too involved, but seeing everything going on right now with ICE and immigration it’s tough to see. I want to put on a show for other people and gather other artists so we can show people when united, we can do great things in spite of everything going on.

Amado: To me, I definitely look at what’s going on in the political landscape right now. I try to stay very aware of new laws and court rulings, but far as art goes, I can’t say that it’s really influenced anything that I’ve done lately. For the last few years, I’ve tried to represent my culture and people the best that I can. I wouldn’t say it’s made me do anything different, it’s something I’m paying attention to, but I’m going to stay strong about who I am. If anything, I’m just encouraging young people like Nate and people around me to not let it get you down. Racists are going to be racists and bigots are going to be bigots; hopefully we can be free of that, but right now I’m still going to be me.

What do you hope people take away from “La Gente”, the upcoming show in August?                       

Mata: I want people to see us Chicanos in a good light. I want them to see the side that the media doesn’t portray and that when we come together, we can do great things.

Amado: Nate and I talked about this a month ago; when we started to develop what the exhibit was going to look like, I encouraged him not to go the “fuck Ice” route. I thought it was a good idea for this show to put a positive spin on who we are because you see headlines where Latinos and Mexicanos are labeled as rapists, murderers, or “bad people.” Sure, that exists in our culture, but it exists within every culture. It’s been shown numerous times now that the people being arrested aren’t hardened criminals for the most part. I think it’s important to show the positive and the good things rather than focus on tearing anyone down. When people come to this, I hope they have a good time, and they appreciate what they see. This isn’t about “anti” anything, this is “pro Mexicano,” this is pro our people.

What would you like to accomplish in the future?

Mata: I want to be able to have more outreach in the art world and do more stuff with other Chicano artists. I also want to plant my flag in places like Texas and California. I want to have more outreach, that’s my main goal.

Amado: I’ve been trying to expand my network and expand the places where I have my art up and showing. I just had a piece that was at a very influential prominent gallery in L.A. and I’m working on more of that. Nate is a former student from the school that I teach at, and I thought it was worthwhile to invest time and effort in bringing the community together. Nate’s mainly been the one organizing the people for this show; he’s been in contact with people from across the country. That’s part of it too: Racine is a small Midwest city where people don’t think about Chicano art, so exposing more of the community to that and putting it out there more.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Mata:  Come out to La “Gent” August 1. Come and Support!

Amado: Support your local artists. No matter what kind of art it is, there’s talented people of all different backgrounds from all different kinds of places. When you see a local artist, show them some love.