Artbound Season 12: Episode Guide & Ratings

A pioneer of Chicano rock ’n’ roll, Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara recounts his life in music, performance art and activism — from his time as lead singer of the doo-wop band The Apollo Brothers, his collaborations with Frank Zappa and Cheech Marin, and his crossover into the Chicano performance art world of the 1960s and 1970s — all of which shaped Mexican American culture.

Renowned ceramist and educator Helen Jean Taylor has not only crafted timeless artworks inspired by colors found in home gardens, but also helped her students improve their mental health through the art of throwing clay.

Learn how “Sweet Land,” named the Best Opera of 2020 by the Music Critics Association of North America, was made. See how it recasts the origin story of the United States through the eyes of Native Americans and immigrants. Explore how this revisionist opera was shaped by an unusual collaboration of diverse creative voices and what it says about the roots of our divided nation today.

The desert is both a place and idea. Learn how the recurring site-specific, international art exhibition “Desert X” in 2021 explored issues such as land ownership, water scarcity and overlooked histories. Desert X includes newly commissioned works by 12 participating artists from eight countries.

Southern California’s Autry Museum of the American West is working to recontextualize a large mural, dating from the Disney Imagineers-designed museum’s opening in the 1980s. It depicts a widely accepted mythology of the West, which prioritizes white settler colonialism at the expense of other perspectives including those of Native Americans, Black settlers, Asian Americans and women.

See how a roving LGBTQ night club event in Los Angeles called “Mustache Mondays” became a creative incubator for today’s leading edge contemporary artists. This film examines the history of these spaces and how they shaped the Queer cultural fabric unique to Southern California.