Preserving Campesino Culture
The García-Correa family donates 61 Mexican prints to UC Santa Barbara
A striking painting presides over the mantle of the García-Correa household. Shadowy figures dance over a turquoise and rust background, a palimpsest of symbols from Gil’s own life, like the freight train that carried his father north. For Gil García H’90 and Marti Correa de García, art is a vessel. Their gift of 61 Mexican prints to UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design, & Architecture Museum honors the resilience and collectivism of campesino culture.
“The collection pays tribute to the García-Correa family. Our parents are examples of the essential contributions of the migrant farm worker to the cultural and economic fabric of Santa Barbara County and beyond. Behind every cultivated field and harvest lies a story of sacrifice, perseverance, and love for family,” said Gil. “The deep value campesinos place on family and community is a powerful basis for their children’s success. This collectivist worldview provides a critical network of social, emotional, and economic support, strong foundations that help children build resilience, pursue education, and achieve their goals despite facing significant systemic and economic challenges.”
“The García-Correa Collection introduces into our holdings a group of foundational artists of the Mexican printmaking movement. During this post-Revolutionary time, artists and activists turned to the graphic arts to quickly communicate social causes important to the Revolution.
Today, this is a particularly important subject in California, and this collection and its exhibitions will foreground the beauty of the culture and the farmworker community while contextualizing their history within our socio-political climate,” said Ana Briz, Ph.D., assistant director and curator of exhibitions at UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design, & Architecture Museum.
Gil and Marti felt a fervor to embrace their roots while honeymooning in Mexico in 1983. Since then, they have traveled throughout the country, tracing Gil’s father’s early life and returning again and again to Santa Barbara’s sister city, Puerto Vallarta. During their travels, they were fascinated by the Mexican murals painted in the 1920s and 1930s. However, it’s the representations of family life that are most meaningful to Gil and Marti. These images evoke the stories Gil’s father would tell.
“My father always took me to work with him, and those experiences shaped me. As a little boy, seven years old, I picked lemons and walnuts in the fields. Many of the pieces we collected remind me of a happy time I shared in my life with my father and the values that he taught me,” said Gil, who was born and raised in Goleta.
“Collecting anything was not one of our obsessions, but when we became friends with local artist Rafael Parea de la Cabada, lithographs of well-known Mexican artists — particularly of the 1920s — became our passion. A lot of our collection includes the struggle of the Mexican people, even in the collection of abstract prints,” said Marti. The García-Correa family has established endowed and current-use funds to preserve the collection and support research, exhibitions, catalogs, programs, and the students who work on the material. Their support will also facilitate future acquisitions and public commissions of Latin American, Mexican and Chicana/Chicano art.
Gil’s grandfather left Mexico during the revolution to avoid conscription. His father returned to Mexico, but when he was 20 years old, the National Army invaded his workplace, a hacienda owned by a revolutionary colonel. Caught between armies, Gil’s father immigrated to the United States. Marti’s grandparents also came to the United States in the early 1920s because of the same struggles. The family’s vision is for the museum to educate the community on the close-knit family values of campesino culture through art, fostering appreciation of its contributions to society.
“Promoting values such as a strong work ethic, humility, love of family, historical integrity, and resilience can be an effective strategy for fostering more positive perceptions of migrants. This approach counters negative stereotypes and builds a more inclusive, empathetic society by highlighting shared human experiences,” said Gil.
Gil founded García Architects in 1977 and designed buildings across Santa Barbara and California while serving as a dedicated public servant and community leader, including a decade on the Santa Barbara City Council. Marti Correa joined García Architects in 1979 to manage finances and built a varied career, from founding T.Y.R.E.S., Inc. to participating in media ventures to leading numerous local nonprofits. Together, their professional and civic work reflects a lifelong commitment to strengthening the Santa Barbara community.
“It was a good partnership, and still is,” said Marti.
Published November 2025
The collection pays tribute to the García-Correa family. Our parents are examples of the essential contributions of the migrant farm worker to the cultural and economic fabric of Santa Barbara County and beyond. Behind every cultivated field and harvest lies a story of sacrifice, perseverance, and love for family.
Gilbert García H’90, pictured with wife, Marti Correa de García
