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The CAM symbolizes Mexican-American artists establishing a unique artistic identity in the U.S. The works of to resist and challenge dominant social norms and stereotypes for cultural autonomy and self-determination. Influenced by post-Mexican Revolution ideologies, pre-Columbian art, European painting techniques and Mexican-American social, political and cultural issues. Chicano art serves as a way of continuing to inform Chicano Youth and unify around their culture and histories.
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Almaraz's I Dreamed I Could Fly (1986) compromises of his developed, personal visual language of objects and animals, presented as narrative scenes, or, as in this case, a swirl of dreamlike remembrances. Drawn elements from his daily life in Los Angeles and childhood memories, he often refers to Catholic traditions and indigenous folklore of Mexico. Throughout his intimate, psychological works; Almaraz's bicultural Mexican American identity was a powerful source of inspiration.