Marsha Gomez: Sculptor, Educator, and Activist

Marsha Anne Gomez was a sculptor, art teacher, and activist who used her art to advocate for various issues of social justice. Though her life was tragically cut short when she was only forty-seven years old, Gomez created a legacy of using creativity to advocate for Indigenous Peoples, women, and the protection of the environment.

Early Life

Marsha Gomez was born on December 24^th, 1951, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Walter Anthony Gomez Jr. and Anna Gomez. Her mother, of Cajun and Choctaw descent, raised Gomez with a deep appreciation for her Indigenous heritage. Meanwhile her father, in fighting a large chemical company for disposing of toxic chemical waste in the Atchafalaya Basin in 1959,[1] instilled in Gomez a belief that we are responsible for protecting and advocating for the environment.

In 1971, Gomez graduated from Nicholls State College in Louisiana with an associate degree in special education with an art education minor.[2] Ten years later, she earned her bachelor’s degree in art education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.[3]

Art and Activism

Soon after graduating in 1981, Gomez relocated to Austin in Texas, where she began establishing herself as a well-known sculptor. She curated several exhibitions of her work and was featured amongst other artists in many more. Gomez also joined Dougherty Arts Center, where she taught traditional pottery, as well as the Artist-in-Education program sponsored by the Texas Commission on the Arts and city of Austin.[4]

At the same time, Gomez became involved in several projects and organizations advocating for social justice and change. In 1983, alongside several women activists including Janet McCloud (Yet-Si-Blue) and Winona LaDuke, Gomez founded the Indigenous Women’s Network (IWN). The IWM sought to empower Indigenous women, their families, and their communities to govern themselves, take care of their land, and work towards food sovereignty. Gomez also worked closely with Genevieve Vaughan, the founding director of the Foundation for a Compassionate society, from 1986, and became director of the organization’s center, the Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change. As well as caring for the building and grounds, Gomez created a garden in which people could grow their own food and an art and pottery studio to host various classes in.[5] Gomez remained in the position of director, even once Vaughan donated the building and grounds to the IWN in 1994.

Madre Del Mundo

In 1987, Gomez was commissioned by Genevieve Vaughan to create a sculpture to be placed in protest of a Nuclear Test Site in Mercury, Nevada, on Shoshone land. The piece, titled Madre Del Mundo, is a life-size sculpture of a Native woman sat cross-legged with the Earth in her lap[6] and it Gomez’s most widely recognized work. Quickly after its installation, the Bureau of Land Management removed the sculpture only to release it months later after a legal battle. Gomez went on to create numerous replicas of the Madre Del Mundo which were placed in various significant locations around the U.S.[7]

The Madre Del Mundo is not only a symbol of women’s empowerment, environmental justice, and Indigenous rights, but a symbol of Gomez’s legacy both as an artist and an activist. Her legacy is one of advocacy and empowerment and her work remains just as poignant today as when it was created.

[1] Lopez-Ruiz, Gabriela. Gómez, Marsha Anne (1951–1998). [Online] Available https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/Gómez-marsha-anne. 2018.

[2] Ware, Susan (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press. 

[3] Ibid.

[4] Lopez-Ruiz, 2018.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Acosta, Teresa Palomo. Marsha Gómez. [Online] Available https://www.womenintexashistory.org/audio/Gómez/. 2024.

[7] Ware, Susan, 2004.