QUESADA, Eugenio Reynaldo

David’s Desert Chapel Funeral Home Wickenburg, Arizona Eugenio Quesada Mexican American artist and son of Wickenburg pioneers, Eugenio Reynaldo Quesada, born May 24, 1927 passed away Dec. 31 after a long illness. He lived life with a spirit that fueled social justice and equality. His body of paintings and drawings embody cultural pride. His life experiences spanned pioneering family roots in Wickenburg to art exhibits of his work from San Diego to Puerto Rico. The son of late Jose F. and Francisca Ocampo Quesada, he was the grandson of Teodoro Mazon Ocampo and Mariana Rodriguez Ocampo, who settled in Wickenburg in 1860. He attended Wickenburg schools and graduated from Wickenburg High School in 1945. He served in the U.S. Navy and then graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in May 1952. He studied in California, New York, and with the Mexican muralist Jean Charlot. During his youth he was influenced by such masters as Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera. Eugenio went on to teach art at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Ariz., and at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. He retired from ASU in 1989 as Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. After college, he lived and studied in Mexico. His paintings earned him acclaim in Guadalajara where he lived through the 1960s. This long residence in Mexico flavored the stuttering lines, torsos and oblique forms that became the core of Quesada’s body of work. His work deals in the barest essentials in defining his subjects. Texture and color used to define form, rather than specific objects make his paintings appear larger than they are. His drawings suggest brief, but very effective visual statements. When serving as curator at an exhibition in 1990, Quesada said, “Latino art is what the Latino artist does. He works in obscurity; in ignorance he is ignored.” Quesada’s work came to maturity in the 1960s and has been exhibited internationally. He became an accomplished painter and muralist. His body of work will continue to influence others through various publications that have documented his impact on the Mexican American Art movement in the United States. The prolific body of work that he created over a 60-year period includes murals he painted in Mexico from 1963 to 1970, all of which will remain as part of a dynamic and complex history of an influential artist that Quesada was. After his retirement, he and his siblings and their spouses were instrumental in establishing an endowment at ASU to fund student research that increases the understanding of the Hispanic community while promoting the interdisciplinary work of Hispanic researchers. Each year students receive awards from the Jose Franco and Francisca Ocampo Quesada Research Award Endowment. Eugene is survived by two sisters Josephine Quesada Alvarez of Payson, Ariz.; Alicia Otilia Quesada of Wickenburg, Ariz.; and brother Bernard A. Quesada of Bayside, Calif. He is preceded in death by sister Dora Quesada. He is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins: William Frances Sr. and Louise Alvarez, Michael Alvarez; William Frances Jr. and Suzanne Alvarez; Nicholas Logan and Jennifer Brooke Alvarez; Terry, Jennifer and Jeffrey Springer; Mark, Shawn and Whitney Margolis; Felix Ortega Sr.; Adelina Ortega and Jim Trombley; Felix Ortega Jr.; Asia and Darleen Domingo; Daniel Ortega; Yvette Ortega and Matthew Heinze; Zachary and Benjamine Heinze; Philip Ben, and Martha Hershkowitz; Sarah and Scott Ercole; Anna, Julie and Mitchell Ben Hershkowitz; Ronald DeHart Sr.; Eva DeHart; Jacqueline Miller and Rose McMillan; Adrian Miller; Travis Miller; Irene DeHart and Gary Franks; Daphne DeHart and Steve Zieder; Aaron Zieder; Dexter Zieder; Kyle Zieder; Kimberly DeHart; Kristin DeHart; Kari and Kameron Eckert; Ronald deHarte Jr. and Keith Gran; Graycin and Roman deHarte Marchese-Culver; Bernard Ortega; Jolene, Daniel, Junior, and Ruth Ann Ortega; Jo Frances Quesada; Jonathan, Linda, and Kimberly Snethen; Lorene Quesada; Justin and Jeremy Kelly; Denise Quesada and Anthony Fraga; Jacob, Bethany and Sara Louise Fraga, and David and Shirley Walker. Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 14) at the Wickenburg Cemetery. A reception will follow at My Father’s Retirement Ranch. Arrangements entrusted to David’s Desert Chapel Funeral Home in Wickenburg. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Jose Franco and Francisca Ocampo Quesada Research Award Endowment, c/o ASU, P.O. Box 2260, Tempe AZ 85280.