Herlinda Sánchez Laurel

However, a first prize win at a state art competition convinced her to move to Mexico City to study at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" from 1965 to 1969.

[1][3] Sánchez Laurel began her career shortly after graduation painting a mural called Alegoría a la lucha (Allegory of the Struggle) from 1969 to 1970 for the State Teachers' Union in Ensenada.

[2][3] In 1971, she took a position to teach art at the Casa del Lago in Chapultepec Park (part of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), along with working as a graphic designer for the university.

Her work shows influence from Georges Braque, Amelia Peláez and Paul Klee along with Mexican artists such as Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, Gunther Gerzso and Roger von Gunten .

[2][4] According to Blanca González Rosas, art critic of Proceso magazine, Sánchez Laurel had significant participation in the student strikes in Mexico in 1968 as president of the La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking.

She was administrator and organizer of art from that school, safeguarding 65 original engraving plates from that time period, allowing for better understanding of the participation of artists, especially female ones, during the movement known as "Gráfica del 68.