Self Help Graphics Gallery Exhibitions

Please note that our building and gallery at 1300 E. 1st St. are currently closed to the public, in preparation of our building renovation.
Please read our building renovation update here. Download our building renovation FAQs here.
Please see our traveling exhibitions page to view our prints in a city near you!

ON VIEW NOW

Sinks: Places We Call Home
On view September 21, 2024-February 15, 2025
at luckman gallery at cal state university, los angeles

exhibition guided tours november 21, january 16 + more tba!

***AUGMENTED REALITY PROGRAM AT MAGIC JOHNSON PARK OCTOBER 5***

***ARTIST PANEL AND CATALOG RELEASE AT LUCKMAN GALLERY DECEMBER 7***

Sinks: Places We Call Home, part of the PST ART: Art & Science Collide Getty initiative, highlights the environmental disparities created by manufacturing sites in two communities located near Self Help Graphics: Exide battery plant in Vernon and the former Athens Tank Farm (Exxon Mobil) site in Willowbrook. Los Angeles-based artists Maru García and Beatriz Jaramillo are conducting data-driven research that reveals the harmful practices of the past and present and their long-term impact on people and the environment. Learn more here. The exhibition will be on view at the Luckman Gallery from September 21, 2024-February 15, 2025.

The Luckman Gallery hours* are Wednesday through Friday, from 12:00 PM -5:00 PM, Saturdays from 11:00 AM-4:00 PM and one hour before start time during the Luckman Fine Arts Complex stage presentations. (*Please note the adjusted gallery hours for the opening reception on September 21. We also advise the public to please contact Luckman Gallery during the holidays, as hours may be affected.)

Save the dates! Join us for upcoming Sinks gallery guided tours and programming:

• Sat, October 5 • 1PM-3PM: Sinks Augmented Reality Ceremony at Magic Johnson Park located at 905 E. El Segundo Blvd. LA, CA. 90059

• Sat, October 19 • 1PM-3PM: Sinks Urban Garden Art Workshop at Willowbrook Community Garden at 674 E 121s LA, CA. 90059 (part of Willowbrook Garden Anniversary Celebration)

• Thurs, November 21 • 12:30PM-1:30PM: Sinks lunch-time tour at Luckman Gallery (Cal State LA)

• Sat, December 7 • 11AM-4PM: Sinks Artist Panel (2PM) and Catalog Release at Luckman Gallery (Cal State LA)

• Thurs, January 16 • 12:30PM-1:30PM: Sinks lunch-time tour at Luckman Gallery (Cal State LA)
  

For all Sinks exhibition public programming questions, please contact Curatorial Assistant, Ana Guajardo.

For all Sinks Higher Education student tour requests, please contact Gabriella Padilla.

For all Sinks K-12 student tour requests, please contact Cynthia Navarro.

For all Sinks press requests, please contact VPE Communications at Lorena Alamillo or Cecilia Arteaga.

Image: PST 2024 Sinks: Places We Call Home Artist and Scientist, Maru Garcia, Tongva and Chumash Land Steward, Tina Calderon and Artist, Beatriz Jaramillo take a moment to honor the commencement of the research of local contaminated land; through an intimate ceremony at Self Help Graphics & Art (May 2022). Photograph by Jennifer Cuevas. Courtesy of Self Help Graphics & Art. ©Self Help Graphics & Art.

PAST EXHIBITIONS

The Re-Membering Generation: 1990's LA Chicana/o/x Music
On view at La Plaza de la Raza
saturday, April 6 – saturday, June 8, 2024

MUSIC FESTIVAL SUN, JUNE 2 12PM-4PM at plaza de la Raza

The exhibition Re-Membering Generation: 1990's LA Chicana/o/x Music is a multidisciplinary exploration that documents SHG's vibrant music scene and history in the 1990s. The exhibition will remain on view at The Boathouse Gallery at Plaza de la Raza from April 6-June 8, 2024. The gallery is open weekly Monday-Thursday from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Join us on Sunday, June 2 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. for a music festival, featuring performing musicians from the exhibition; such as Alice Bag, Gustavo Avina, Lysa Flores, Quetzal Flores, Randy Rodarte, Raul Pacheco, Tylana Renga, and Aztlan Underground!

Curated by Quetzal Flores, a Grammy award-winning musician/community historian, the exhibition pairs eight duets (a visual artist with a musician) to produce original songs and serigraph prints inspired by their conversations, reflections, and memories of the LA music scene of the late 90s. "For generations of musicians, Self Help Graphics has served as a rite of passage. A collective space of retreat, experimentation, re-membering regeneration," said Curator, Quetzal. 

The exhibition features ephemera serving as a window to this period alongside serigraph prints and music created by Rachel Negrete Thorson and Alice Bag, Marisol Torres and Gustavo Avina, Yolanda Gonzalez and Lysa Flores, Margaret “Quica” Alarcon and Quetzal Flores, Usen Gandara and Randy Rodarte, Wenceslao Quiroz and Raul Pacheco, Omar G. Ramirez and Tylana Renga, Jose Ramirez and Yaotl.

This exhibition is made possible through generous support from the Pasadena Art Alliance. The upcoming music festival is made possible with support from the Los Angeles City Department of Arts and Culture (DCA).

#SelfHelpGraphics #RememberingGeneration #ChicanoMusic

Battle of the Saints On View March 7, 2024 - April 27, 2024
At the Long Beach City College Gallery

CLOSING reception SATURDAY, APRIL 27 2PM - 5PM
PANEL DISCUSSION APRIL 27 2:15PM - 3:45PM WITH DEWEY TAFOYA,
ERNESTO VAZQUEZ AND JAQUELINE VALENZUELA &
MODERATED BY LBCC STUDENT, MIGUEL ZAVALA

Battle of the Saints, on view at the Long Beach City College Gallery from March 7, 2024-April 27, 2024, highlights everyday icons worshiped across cultures. Join us for the closing reception on Saturday, April 27 from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; coupled with a panel discussion from 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Their images and likeness have become so ubiquitous that they appear in our daily lives, from billboards to candles, key chains, murals, t-shirts, toys, and more throughout our world. Revered figures like wrestlers, saints, gods, artists, political activists, and athletes are a few of the cultural icons whose likeness instills a profound sense of community pride and empowerment. The Long Beach City College Gallery is located at 4901 East Carson St. Long Beach, CA 90808. The gallery is open weekly to the public Tuesday-Thursday, from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. 

The artists in the exhibition have all used iconography as a powerful storytelling tool. Some subvert the image of cultural and religious icons. In contrast, others elevate an everyday hero into a holy figure by appropriating symbols from religious depictions of saints, including La Virgen de Guadalupe. The image of La Virgen acts as a bridge to create a dialogue between tradition and current culture. She is portrayed as a powerful boxing champion by artist Alma Lopez or a cultural icon worthy of memorializing on the skin, as seen in Delilah Montoya’s serigraph. A print by Isabel Martinez showcases her as the divine mother, linked to the powerful creation deity Coatlicue. Jacqueline Valenzuela uses votive candles featuring La Virgen in an installation inspired by her memories of visiting Mexico. 

Additionally, some artists bring attention to influential figures through unique and innovative perspectives. Josiah O’Balles elevates the luchador (wrestler), Chicano Power, in his painting as a Saint, taking a stand against oppression. On the other hand, Nao Bustamante uses performance and gaudy aesthetics to memorialize Walter Mercado, a television astrologer integral to many homes across Latin America and its diaspora. 

In a symbolic "Battle of the Saints," we playfully bestow a sense of "sainthood" upon pop culture icons while revisiting traditional religious symbols and figures in a contemporary context. The exhibition acknowledges these characters' elevated status within immigrant communities as symbols of hope, empowerment, and cultural connections to the motherland. 

This group show will highlight prints from the Self Help Graphics Professional Print Studio, including artists Alma Lopez, Alfredo de Batuc, Delilah Montoya, Frank Ybarra, Isabel Martinez, Jose Roberto Barrero, Yreina Cervantez, Victor Gastelum, and Chaz Bojorquez, alongside local artists in Los Angeles and Long Beach, including Adriana Carranza of Kalli Arte Collective, Aneesa Shami Zizzo, April Bey, Carolyn Castaño, Cultivarte Studios, Dewey Tafoya, Ernesto Vazquez, Jacqueline Valenzuela, Jose M. Loza, Josiah O'Balles, Las Chicas Peligrosas, Mike Alcala, Nao Bustamante, and Sayon Syprasoeuth. 

At the Heart of It: LGBTQ+ Representation at Self Help Graphics
On View November 18, 2023 - extended to february 10, 2024

Self Help Graphics & Art is proud to present At the Heart of It: LGBTQ+ Representation, an exhibition curated by artist Ruben Esparza, at the Advocate & Gochis Galleries, inside the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center on the campus of the LGBT Center; located at 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038. Join us for a closing panel discussion and reception on Sunday, January 21 at 2:00 p.m. featuring panelists Miguel Angel Reyes, Dalila Paola Mendez, and Curator Rubén Esparza, in conversation with Rafael Barrientos. The exhibition has now been extended through February 10, 2024. 

“At the Heart of It provides a window to the creative energy the LGBTQ+ community found at Self Help Graphics and how that energy transitioned in the Print Studio throughout these 50 years. Audiences will witness a selection of prints that challenge conservative cultural traditions and elevate the racial and systemic violence that continues to harm neighborhoods, memorials to victims of the AIDs pandemic, and work that celebrates identity, pride, and relationships,” said Marvella Muro, Self Help Graphics & Art Director of Artistic Programs, Curatorial and Education. 

As part of SHG’s 50th Anniversary suite of programs, At the Heart of It showcases prints and original artworks dating back to 1972 by the founders, Sister Karen Boccalero (Carmen Rose Boccalero), Carlos Bueno, Antonio Ibañez, and the much less discussed artist Maja Milton Jurado. “To know about or to be involved with Self Help Graphics is to know the community and disrupter of mainstream art and culture norms– an incubator for sociopolitical expression, experimentation, and representation, and the intersectionality of mostly Chicano and Latinx identities that overlaps with feminists, queer, and cross-racial transnational peoples,” said Curator, Rubén Esparza.

The exhibition celebrates the gay and queer artistic community and its cultural complexities in a space, a platform where their creativity evolved; and features artworks by Sister Karen Boccalero, Carlos Bueno, Antonio Ibañez, Maja Milton Jurado, Laura Aguilar, Alex Alferoc, Alfredo de Batuc, Angelica Becerra, Martha Carrillo, Pamela Chavez, Alex Donis, Rubén Esparza, Gabriel Garcia Roman, Trenely “Clover” Garcia, Jef Huereque, Luciano Martinez, Rigo Maldonado, Paola Dalila Mendez, Miguel Angel Reyes, Teddy Sandoval, Hector Silva, Joey Terrill, and Cynthia Velasquez. 

Essential workers: A Visual Narrative
on view February 25- March 30, 2023

Update! Essential Workers will be extended through Friday, March 31 from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Essentials is a group exhibition highlighting and honoring essential workers' contributions and services throughout the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventeen artists were invited nationwide to interview and capture an essential worker's journey and challenges that kept society and the country's health, market, and well-being moving forward during challenging conditions. Some subjects include a bus driver, a border travel nurse, a farmworker, and a correctional officer. Their stories have been captured and memorialized into visual narratives through diverse forms of printmaking. 

Participating artists include Marianne Sadowski, Narsiso Martinez, Audrey Chan, Michael Massenburg, Amanda Lee, Hanna Hathaway, Celeste de Luna, Juan de Dios Mora, Charles Cohan, Liz Chalfin, Sojin Kim, Jessica Caldas, Chloe Alexander, Tina Tavera, Carlos Barberena, Poli Marichal, Osvaldo de Jesús,

The SHG gallery is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and select weekends during public programming. Admission and parking are free. This exhibition is made possible by funding from the Pasadena Art Alliance. 

ON VIEW january 21, 2023-March 3, 2023

open mic & CLOSING RECEPTION SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2022 • 6:00 PM-9:00PM

“They are Ni Santas, Ni Putas, Solo Mujeres.” – Rotmi Enciso.

Muñecas de Cartón is a six-year survey of the artists' collective Ni Santas' collaborative artistic practice drawing from their founding in 2016 to 2022. Inspired by the feminist artist Rotmi Enciso, Ni Santas is an autonomous all Women of Color collective whose mission is to create socially conscious visual narratives and promote sisterhood through skill sharing.

Muñecas de Cartón presents the intentional, yet spontaneous, joint effort between women artists to create, be heard, and be seen. The title is derived from the collective's extensive use of cardboard as their medium and the ephemeral context in which the work was created–– site and event specific. The exhibition features installations, prints, flyers, photos, and protest signs made by the different members throughout its six years, demonstrating the collective's bluntness, activist ideology, and passion for elevating women's voices.

The SHG gallery is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and select weekends during public programming. Admission and parking are free.

ON VIEW DECEMBER 10, 2022-FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Mari Cardenas: Colores de Valor, curated by endy trece, presents a selection of prints and paintings from over 50 years of Mari's artistic practice. The exhibition demonstrates how she bravely explored her spectrum of color, form, and emotions as a strategy for creating her happiness in different ways, using what was available to her within a life of painful experiences and circumstances. Alongside Mari's work, silkscreen prints by her peers at Self Help Graphics & Art will be included in the exhibition to bring us into her world of friendships and art practice. 

Mari is a legacy artist who found her creative home and supportive friends at SHG during a time when there was little access to the art world for women, especially women of color, later becoming part of the SHG staff. She shares, "We all had to start at our kitchen table, and Self Help Graphics provided the friendships I needed to go out in the world and be part of an artist community as an artist and worker." 

Now in her nineties, Mari continues to paint even though she has experienced macular degeneration in her eyes for years and has been declared legally blind, not allowing anything to stop her colores de valor. Mari Cardenas: Colores de Valor will remain on view from December 9, 2022-February 17, 2023.

The SHG gallery is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and select weekends during public programming. Admission and parking are free.

CANCIONES DE TI ON VIEW OCTOBER 8-NOVEMBER 23

Self Help Graphics proudly presents Canciones de ti, our Día de los Muertos season exhibition at Self Help Graphics located at 1300 E. 1st St. in Boyle Heights. The group exhibit is the cornerstone to our Día de los Muertos season, which will be on view from October 8 - November 23, 2022. RSVP for FREE TIX here.

This year’s Día de los Muertos Commemorative Print Artists and Exhibition Curators are Adriana Carranza and Alfonso Aceves of Kalli Arte Collective! Canciones de ti highlights the songs that are fundamental to our connection with our loved ones, keeping their memory and spirit alive. With this celebratory theme, this group exhibition demonstrates the multiple ways we honor these memories.

Canciones de ti features the work of artists Kalli Arte, Paul Botello, J Michael Walker, Maritza Torres, Jaime Chavez, Javi Herre, Joe Alvarez, Amina Cruz, Sergio Teran, Denise Silva, Amparo Cortez Chi, Sean Guerra, Jackie Hernandez, Ernie Lucero, Kristofferson San Pablo, Jose Lozano, Ofelia Esparza, Yaneli Delgado, Ione Aceves, Sara Aceves, Dewey Tafoya, Ernesto Vazquez, Jasmine Puentes, Melissa Govea, Gabriel Garcia Roman and Lilia Ramirez. 

Sueños Real On view July 23-September 23, 2022

Self Help Graphics & Art presented Sueños Real, Kalli Arte’s Beyond the Press culminating exhibition from July 23-September 23, 2022. Calli or Kalli (home in Nahuatl) is central to the collective's art practice and the focal point of the exhibition. 

Paying homage to the cultural ecosystem that is Boyle Heights, the exhibition is grounded by a symbolic installation of the artists’ home. This central sculpture will connect like roots and branches, to various images of elements, people, and iconographies that are core to their creative practice and family unit.

Learn more about their residency at Self Help Graphics here.

DONUT (W)HOLE exhibition on view MARCH 12-May 27, 2022

Self Help Graphics Donut W(h)ole, a solo exhibition by the artist Phung Huynh on view March 12 - May 27, 2022 at the Self Help Graphics & Art gallery. Register on Eventbrite to see this free exhibition. Download the press release here.

Donut W(h)ole is an homage to the Cambodian immigrant and Cambodian American (Khmerican), the aftermath of warfare and genocide, stories of survival, determination, and commitment to the family unit. The exhibition is also a celebration of the Cambodian stories told through the lens of 1st and 2nd generation Khmericans who grew up in their family's donut shop.

We have all frequented the local mom-and-pop donut stores for a morning sugar fix. These donut shops represent a cultural space where refugees and immigrants reshape their lives in the process of negotiating, assimilating, and becoming American.

This exhibition is supported in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance.

THE SHELL IN THE CLOUDS (EL CAPARAzÓN EN LAS NUBES) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021- SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022

Self Help Graphics & Art is proudly presented The Shell in the Clouds (El caparazón en las nubes), Pavel Acevedo's culminating exhibition from December 10, 2021 - Feb. 19, 2022. In his exhibition, Pavel invited audiences into an environment filled with images exploring migration and adaptation conveyed through mythical Zapotec stories shared by the artist's elders. 

As the inaugural resident artist for SHG's Beyond the Press, Pavel began his residency in early 2020, which came to a sudden halt due to the pandemic in March of that year. However, this pause did not conclude his residency or deter his creativity or engagement with the Boyle Heights community. 

Pavel Acevedo was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and resides in Riverside, CA. Through printmaking and muralism, he explores the topics of migration, immigration, borders and the duality many immigrants contend with after leaving their homeland for a new nation. He studied at the Rufino Tamayo Plastic Arts Workshop in Oaxaca City and La Escuela de Bellas Artes of Oaxaca with the renowned master printer, Shinzaburo Takeda. Acevedo has exhibited throughout Mexico and the United States. Read more about Pavel’s experience at SHG on our blog.

Everything connected: land, body, cosmos DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION
ON VIEW SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9 - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Our annual Día de los Muertos exhibition is one of the highlights of the season, and this year was no exception! The exhibition debuted October 9 - November 24, 2021 at SHG’s gallery. Everything Connected: Land, Body, Cosmos may now be viewed on our Google Arts & Culture partner page here.

The exhibition pairs nine visual artists with nine performative artists (music, theatre, poetry) to develop a body of work around the idea that everything is connected– nothing in the world exists on its own: our existence, community, environment, health, and well-being, cultural practices, and the planet. Participants can view the artwork and performance pieces online. A small self-published catalog is also available (while supplies last).

The exhibition features artists Miyo Stevens-Gandara, Usen Gandara, Luis-Genaro Garcia, Sandra Low, Elyse Pignolet, Pavel Acevedo, J. Leigh Garcia, Ann Johnson, Carmen Argote, Wayne Perry, Sesshu Foster, Joe Galarza, Harry Gamboa Jr., Beaux Mingus, Amy Shimshon-Santo, George Wheeler, endy trece, Xochi Flores, and Ben Caldwell.

our future, our voice, our way youth exhibition
on view at shg gallery july 9 - september 3, 2021

Self Help Graphics & Art is proud to present the youth exhibition, Our Future, Our Voice, Our Way, in our main gallery this summer. View the exhibition by appointment, select dates Tuesday - Friday from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. RSVP is required to attend the gallery exhibition.

The exhibition, curated originally as a virtual experience on our blog by the 2020-21 SHG Youth Committee, highlights individual youth voices who care strongly about issues in their communities, and addresses topics such as identity, race, culture, and gender; many through the lens of social justice. The SHG Gallery exhibition will include serigraph prints from SHG’s renowned Professional Printmaking Program, selected by the Youth Committee, to extend the dialogue about the continuing issues that impact youth and communities of color throughout time.

The SHG Youth Committee believes young people should have more input in the decisions that directly affect them, and that their voices should be celebrated and uplifted. Through this intimate exhibition, we hope that more young artists are inspired to create new work and showcase it to larger audiences; and inspire a new generation of youth to pursue the arts as a form of expression. Follow @SHGYouth on Instagram for youth centered programming and content.

PERRO MUNDO PORTFOLIO (CONSEJO GRÁFICO NACIONAL)
virtual exhibition ON VIEW march 10 - april 30, 2021 #Printsummit2021

The Perro Mundo portfolio, created by Consejo Gráfico Nacional in 2019, will be on view virtually beginning March 10 and be featured as part of our 2021 Biennial Printmaking Summit.

Watch our March Artist Lab: In the Studio discussion, as part of the Printmaking Summit series, Moderated by Sandra C. Fernandez, Executive Driector of Consejo Grafico Nacional, with members of the Consejo Gráfico Nacional on our Youtube channel.

Perro Mundo featured artwork above by Artist Phumelele Tshabalala.

Intersections

Virtual Exhibition on view December 12, 2020 - February 6, 2021

Intersections will feature works by recent MFA graduates, Artists William Camargo (MFA Claremont Graduate University), Jonah Elijah (MFA Claremont Graduate University) and Álvaro D. Márquez (MFA California State University, Long Beach). The three artists utilize seemingly disparate aesthetic strategies (photography, painting, and printmaking) but address overlapping conversations about the development of the urban environment and enforcement of racial hierarchies through social and economic policies or police enforcement of racist and classist legal structures.

OFRENDAS 2020
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION ON VIEW OCTOBER 13, 2020 - NOVEMBER 27, 2020
#OFRENDAS2020 #SHGDOD

In the spirit and tradition of Self Help Graphics & Art, this year’s Día de los Muertos exhibition, Ofrendas 2020, is curated by our Commemorative Print Artist, Sandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s print (pictured), Guadalupe Rodriguez, Autorretrato en el Panteón, 2003, is an homage to the artist's mother, Artist Guadalupe Rodriguez. For this limited edition serigraph, Sandy recreated a self-portrait painting by her mother in 2003. This year’s exhibition brings together a visionary group of Los Angeles artists spanning generations, perspectives, disciplines, and connections to our organization.

The exhibition will include artists Sandy Rodriguez, Nao Bustamante, Barbara Carrasco, Carolyn Castaño, Enrique Castrejon, Yreina Cervantez, Audrey Chan, Christina Fernandez, Consuelo Flores, Isabelle Lutterodt, Rigo Maldonado, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Shizu Saldamando, Gabriella Sanchez, Devon Tsuno, Sandra de la Loza and Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

As part of this year’s experience, SHG has teamed up with Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza of Tonalli Studio and burgeoning VR tech company, TecnoLatinx, to transform a past altar created by the Esparza’s into an AR experience.  People will be immersed into the virtual world and able to see select altar elements come to life! To honor the season and exhibition, SHG will also host an Artist Lab: In the Studio virtual panel discussion on Monday, November 2 with Commemorative Print Artist and Curator, Sandy Rodriguez, along with select artists from the exhibition. 

THE VERY VERY VERY LONG DAY
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION ON VIEW August 22, 2020 - SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
#TVVVLD

Self Help Graphics & Art presents The Very Very Very Long Day, a virtual group exhibition curated by Marvella Muro, featuring artists from our teaching artists cohort and Advisory Committee, documenting their collective experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition opens virtually August 22 and features works by Connie Mendoza, Victoria Delgadillo, Jennifer Payan, Flor Flores, Arleny Vargas, Dalila Paola Mendez, Martha Carrillo, Oscar Rodriguez, Chynna Monforte, Cynthia Navarro, Yaneli Delgado, Dewey Tafoya, Trenely “Clover” Garcia, Monica Perez, Gabriella Claro, Ernesto Vazquez, Ariel Mar, Joan Zamora, Andrea Ramirez, Viktor Rosas, Diego Robles, Rafa Haro, Gustavo Garcia, Pavel Acevedo, Mario Ybarra Jr, Michelle L. Lopez, Peter Tovar, Rosalie Lopez, and Marianne Sadowski.  

Since the implementation of the mandatory quarantine in Mid-March, the perception of time has blurred and morphed into what seems to be one Very Very Very Long Day. Time is obsolete, yet five months have passed, bearing witness to a global standstill while simultaneously experiencing a nationwide uprising. We first found ourselves scrambling to adapt to a new way of life while watching the number of COVID-19 cases rise and the economy sink. Our anxieties are magnified by the restrictions to physically be with family and friends, primarily when an illness or death affects a loved one. The inability to practice traditional mourning rituals further deepens the void in our hearts.  

The pandemic has also shed light on the many systematic inequities affecting people of color, on a national level. For one, communities of color are the most impacted by COVID-19 - from economic well being to health and security - and yet historically receive the least amount of resources. These factors, including the growing frustrations generated by the pandemic, were further exacerbated by the video of George Floyd’s killing, with the Black Lives Matter movement exemplifying the strength and courage of the human spirit at its core. The Very Very Very Long Day exhibition is not only a documentation of many issues currently at the forefront, but also honors the human spirit, people’s perseverance, and to some extent, determination to create new normalcy to avoid breaking. 

The works in the exhibition are windows to a specific time, recordings of tangible and intangible events, and experiences. As we continue to celebrate birthdays and special occasions, walk our dogs and attempt to follow a routine in this new normal, we look to the day where we can stand strong, hand in hand, and without masks once again.

*Pictured artwork: "Let us Breathe” by Arleny Vargas. 

2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested Exhibition
on view march 7, 2020 - april 3, 2020

opening reception saturday, march 7, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
(during xingonx fest)

Curated by Martha Gonzales, Megan Pennings and Felicia Montes of Mujeres de Maiz, 2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested is an interdisciplinary, intercultural and intergenerational exhibition featuring womxn of color, femme, gender non-conforming (GNC), queer and trans (QT) womxn of color artivists. The exhibit opens as part of their annual Xingonx Fest event. Since 1997, Xingonx Fest celebrates and honors International Womxn's Day, Womxn's Herstory Month, Mexica New Year, the upcoming Spring Equinox and Mujeres de Maiz's Anniversary.

A time to look back, while moving forward
A time to create what we have envisioned for ourselves, families and our communities
Xingonxs looking to the future
Prophecy Manifested
We are the ones we have been waiting for...
Mujeres de Maiz
Mujeres con conciencia 
The creation from destruction
La trascendencia…a un comienzo nuevo.

The work in 2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested will speak to the idea that at this time womxn and other genders are manifesting prophecy and taking lead in changing the world. In line with the vision of the Zapatistas and others that "otro mundo es posible” (another world is possible), the exhibition will explore questions such as: What is a vision of the future, of consciousness, change and community?  What are our cosmovisions, visions, and dreams– our ideas and ways of healing, restoring and magic? How are we creating and honoring wisdom for liberation?

Featured artists include Adriana Arriaga, Amina Cruz, Andrea Ramirez ‘Mextica’, Angelica Frausto, Anna Alvarado, Crystal Galindo , Emilia Cruz, Emilia Garcia, Erica Friend, Evelyn Martinez, Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes, Fernanda Vega, Gabriela Riveros, Jeaneen Carlino, Lanise Howard, Lili Bernard, Lilia ‘Liliflor’ Ramirez , Martha Raquel Gonzales, Megan Pennings, Ni Santas, Sandra de la Loza, Star Montana, Susana Figueroa, Thalia Gochez and more!

*Please note that the Opening Reception of this exhibition on March 7th will require a ticket donation (sliding scale) as part of Mujeres de Maiz’s Xingonx Fest event. However, the exhibition is free and open to all on all other open gallery dates. The SHG Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Mondays by appointment and weekends during public programming.

ImmiGRATION EXHIBITION on view January 11, 2020 - February 22, 2020

Opening Reception SATURDAY, January 11, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

PANEL DISCUSSION SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1:00 - 3:00 PM

ImMigration is a collaborative project that asked artists to respond to the complicated and layered themes around migration as part of unique visual exploration. Join us on Saturday, January 11th for the opening reception from 7:00-9:00 p.m., and Saturday, February 1st, for a gallery walk-through of the exhibition led by select featured artists. The February 1st walk-through will be followed by a panel discussion on migration and art with Pavel Acevedo, Marianne Sadowski, and Phumelele Tshabalala.

The word migration has many associations and implications for survival beyond the response of nature to changing seasons. These are especially notable with the effects of extreme weather and the resulting disasters both natural and unnatural, often including the turmoil and repercussion of political upheavals. All are the results of the basic need for survival, whether one is called refugee, immigrant, or endangered. Change, transition and ultimately migration are part of an eternal process that involves all forms of life on our planet. In these challenging times, how do we see ourselves in this process?

Each participating artist created at least one 15” right-angle triangular print responding to their personal reaction to the theme. The triangles are pieced together, regardless of orientation, to create a large mosaic. This collaboration explores creative participation while visually presenting a conceptual migration of interpretations as each individual becomes part of the whole. 

The new iteration of ImMigration at SHG presents a 3D installation of Paper Boat, prints that interpret the theme of water. Water has long been an exciting subject for printmakers to interpret and there are many thematic designs depicted in the work. The fragility of the paper boats is significant as well in context to the island identity, one noted for resourcefulness and for the respect of water that defines its edges and boundaries. 

ImMigration is curated by Mary Sherwood Brock in collaboration with the Los Angeles Printmaking Society. This project has grown and changed with each installation with new works since its first presentation at Union Gallery, University of North Texas, as part of the 2019 Annual Southern Graphics Council International Conference. The installation also traveled to SCgallery at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy in 2018.

pop-up exhibition on view december 14 - December 19, 2019

opening reception saturday, december 14, 2019
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
(during holiday marketplace)

Give the gift of art this holiday season! While you're at our Holiday Marketplace, step into our Bueno, Bonito y Barato pop-up exhibition, with affordable fine art for sale. Opening reception is during Holiday Marketplace. Start your collection or gift a piece of art by local artists to a loved one to hang at home or work. All works will be for sale for a limited time only from December 14-19, 2019.

‘Ancestral Lights’ Día de los Muertos Exhibition

on view Thursday, October 10, 2019 - Wednesday, November 27, 2019.

OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, October 10, 2019 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

🍂💀🍂 SHG is honored to present this year's Annual Día de los Muertos Exhibition. This year’s theme, Ancestral Lights, is inspired by the 2019 Commemorative Print titled "Light The Way for the Spirit of the Ancestors", by Oakland-based Artist, Melanie Cervantes (Dignidad Rebelde). The exhibition will be on view from Thursday, October 10 - Wednesday, November 27, 2019, with an opening reception on Thursday, October 10 from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. for all ages. The 46th Annual Dia de los Muertos Exhibition is co-curated by Cervantes and SHG’s Director of Artistic Programs and Education, Marvella Muro.

Featured exhibition artists include Melanie Cervantes, Germs, Natalia Anciso, John Jairo Valencia, Juan R. Fuentes, Kalli Arte, Roberto Benavidez , Wakana Kimura, Maria Ramos, Adrienne DeVine, Zeal Harris, Alfredo Calderón, Mi Estori (Altar for LGBTQIA community), Ezria Torres (Altar for her baby), SHG Youth Committee (Altar for migrant youth and children), and Annette Zaragoza-Bilow (Altar for her brother, Carlos Zaragoza) as well as the Ni Santas Community Altar.

Exhibition On view august 17, 2019 - September 27, 2019

PANEL DISCUSSION MODERATED BY CO-CURATOR NERY GABRIEL LEMUS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

In 1943 Duke Ellington performed the symphony Black, Brown, and Beige at Carnegie Hall for the first time, describing it as “a parallel to the history of the American Negro”. The symphony’s title referred to the mistaken assertion that African-Americans can be categorized by a single color. However, the title contends that the experience was broad in spectrum. 

Similarly, Latinos experience colorism and racist generalizations as African-Americans, evidenced by the various accounts of racial profiling by law enforcement and the media. Unfortunately the vast diversity in appearance within Latinos and African-Americans, as a result of various diasporas, falls behind the blanket of prejudice. As Ellington indicated, our variety in appearance perhaps will lead us to distinct experiences, but that does not negate that we still fall under the same umbrella.

In light of the shared experiences between both cultures and in an effort to highlight the complex stories that lie behind a label, the Black, Brown, and Beige exhibition brings forth artists whose work parallel the trajectory that Ellington’s symphony set out to cover; historical, transitional, and contemporary narratives, interweaving these intersections and interconnections guided by the beat of Ellington’s defying composition.  

Black, Brown, and Beige is curated by Nery Gabriel Lemus and Jimmy O’Balles of Suvir Arts Collective. Artists include Mario Ybarra Jr., Ken Gonzales-Day, Oscar Magallanes, Roberto “Tito” Delgado, John Valadez, Eric Almanza, Areli Arellano, Margaret Garcia, Poli Marichal, Lili Bernard, Dalila Paola Mendez, Adrienne Wade, Todd Gray, Umar Rashid, Sam Pace, Mark Steven Greenfield, Edgar Arceneaux, Wendell Wiggins, April Bey, Adrienne DeVine, Toni Scott, Holly Tempo, Richard Duardo and Loren Holland.

Black, Brown and Beige is a free exhibition at the SHG Gallery. ***New SHG Gallery hours.*** The SHG Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and weekends during select public programming only. The SHG Gallery is open Mondays by appointment only. To request a group tour, please contact us.

EXHIBITION ON VIEW APRIL 18, 2019 THROUGH AUGUST 10, 2019

Utopia/ Dystopia is a portfolio of fine art prints created in the form of a deck of 52 playing cards. Curated by Artist and Printmaker, Miyo Stevens-Gandara, twenty-six artists were invited to create two cards for the deck to create their interpretation of utopia and dystopia. The deck of cards allows the project to bring many different artists and styles together creating one unified artwork- a full deck, redefining a traditional portfolio. The concept of a deck of cards is intended to reference many things- games of chance, luck, fortune, war, solitude, precarious situations (house of cards), magic, empire, and divination. It serves as a container for many ideas, and each artist has chosen their own direction.

Artists include Pavel Acevedo, Kay Brown, Ada Pullini Brown, Leslie Dolin, Usen Gandara, Miyo Stevens-Gandara (Curator), Luis Genaro Garcia, J. Leigh Garcia, Margaret Griffith, Rogelio Gutierrez, Phung Huynh, Dongeun Lee, Kelvin Lopez, Rosalie Lopez, Sandra Low, Poli Marichal, Álvaro D. Márquez, Dalila Mendez, Wayne Perry, Sandy Rodriguez, Victor Rosas, Marianne Sadowski, Dewey Tafoya, Alex Fridrich-Ward, Christian Salcedo Ward and Andi Xoch.

EXHIBITION ON VIEW March 9, 2019 THROUGH April 5, 2019

Weaving our Legacies Thru Prayer is an art exhibition by SHG Artists in Residence, Mujeres de Maiz. The exhibit features womxn, femmes, and GNC’s of color who use prayer to set intentions, send positivity and gratitude. This year's theme represents ties that people make to one another and to paths of healing and self-love. As womxn of the earth connected to spiritual powers, we set prayers through affirmations for self-respect and health, through healing friendships that we foster, through mandos we make to ánimas and santos, through dedication to family, and through the multiplicity of borders we cross and inhabit.

The exhibition features works by artists Adriana Arriaga, Alma Lopez, Amarise Carreras, Andrea Ramirez, Celina Jacques, Clara Ligia Chavez Vazquez, Claudia Mercado, Cuca Rivera, Emilia Cruz, Emilia Garcia, Eva Lopez, Jeaneen Carlino, Lara Medina, Lilia Ramirez, Linda Vallejo, Margaret Alarcon, Mayahuel Rosado, Megan Pennings, Monica ‘Moni’ Perez , Nayeli Guzman, Rafa Tarin , Tashina Emery, and Yolanda Gonzalez.