Getting involved in direct action and political art has been a common characteristic of my visits to the USA. I meet more deeply committed political artists there than I ever meet in the UK. I have often ruminated on why this should be so. On this visit my host had a pile of back issues of 'The Nation' a high quality, left-leaning, weekly magazine and reading through these I began to discern what could be the reasons for this. The US government, whether Democrat or Republican, is always essentially conservative. The level of government corruption seems high compared with which our own disgraced politicians have been guilty of mere peccadilloes. Business corruption and organised crime emasculate large sectors of life and work. The CIA and the FBI are regularly shown to have seriously contravened the basic principles of human rights. The history of US intervention in Latin America and other ill-fated places across the world is strewn with tragic consequences. In the face of this what can liberal Americans do about it? Artists and writers do what they can do best - make critical art about it and write for magazines like 'The Nation'.

In Mexico, for obvious historical reasons, the mural remains the most common and popular public art form. And since it can involve large groups of people in its execution it was natural that it should be one of the means whereby the people of Maclovio could become involved in contributing to the buildings to be constructed. There were painting workshops involving people of all ages, including the very young and old. A Women's Centre was built and murals were painted on the exterior walls. For the Aguascalientes a boundary fence was erected using garage doors which were then painted using themes relating to the community's struggle for survival. At one end a large stage area was built and at the other a building to house studios and offices.

Three other members of BAW/TAF, Bernice Badillo and sisters Lorenza and Rebecca Rivero were impressive in their commitment to the project. Whether it was digging holes in the iron-hard ground for posts, mixing concrete for foundations, moving heavy loads, priming surfaces or drawing and painting murals, for eight to ten hours a day, they just got on and did it. In temperatures sometimes reaching 100 degrees and little shelter from the searing heat and hot wind that constantly blew, the conditions were, to say the least, trying. Several other artists visited for short periods leading and directing parts of the mural painting. Among these were Ken Wolverton and Chrissie Orr who live in New Mexico. They were well-known in Scotland in the 70s and 80s for their work with Edinburgh Theatre Workshop, on Arran and in France and Germany.

Much of the kind of work that is going on in Maclovio is familiar to many artists who have worked in similar projects here. The difference, I suppose, lies in the direct political action that is at the heart of the Maclovio project. Here there is a chance that art practice could contribute to social and political change. Here the 'local' is pre-eminent. In her recent, excellent book, 'The Lure of the Local', Lucy Lippard writes: "The potential of an activist art practice that raises about land, history, culture and place and is a catalyst for social change cannot be underestimated, even though this promise has yet to be fulfilled." Here Lippard, whose writings often display an inspired optimism, is rightly cautious not to claim too much for activist art. No great, wide-ranging social or political change can be discerned from the activities of artists working in this field. However, at the point of the local, change can take place. The very engagement of people in collaborative art practice changes the perceptions of individuals to such an extent that their life can become transformed. This is a well-attested fact. It is happening in Maclovio right now. Last week the 'US Mexico Fund for Culture' awarded BAW/TAF a grant of $18,000 to continue its work in Maclovio.