Latina and Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change
Featuring 42 self-identifying Latina women and non-binary Latinx Minnesota-based artists with
ancestral roots in Latin America, this exhibition is a comprehensive survey highlighting a variety
of media, methods and themes that center and celebrate a diverse group of Latina and Latinx
artists from across the state. By platforming each artist’s distinct history and identity, this
exhibition seeks to honor the contributions of Latina and Latinx artists to our state’s shared past,
present and future cultural heritage.
September 7, 2024 5-8pm
Opening Reception Schedule:
5–6pm: music by DJ Maracuya, set 1
6pm: welcome and opening remarks
6:30pm: performance by Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra and live mural painting with Constanza Carballo.
7–8pm: music by DJ Maracuya, set 2
The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery is pleased to open its 2024-2025 exhibition season with Latina and Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change. Featuring 42 self-identifying Latina women and non-binary Latinx Minnesota-based artists with ancestral roots in Latin America, this show is a comprehensive survey highlighting a variety of media, methods and themes that center and celebrate a diverse group of Latina and Latinx artists from across the state. By platforming each artist’s distinct history and identity, this exhibition seeks to honor the contributions of Latina and Latinx artists to our state’s shared past, present and future cultural heritage. The curators explain their intent:
“As a multicultural and collective expression, Latina and Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change breaks the barriers of assumption. The exhibit is the first large comprehensive survey of self-identifying Latina women and Latinx non-binary Minnesota-based artists with ancestral roots in Latin America, an expanded designation for a group of resilient and unique artists whose journeys and fates lead us to this moment, each unconditionally committed to art as a universal transformative force …
Embedded in each piece is the pride of being a Latina woman and a Latinx non-binary person, an experience often reduced to a social phenomenon by outsiders but affirmed here as an unequivocal historical, unifying and rich American condition. The ancestral roots in Latin America are then the pathway from a shared heritage, struggles and achievements, to the social and political present.”
Curatorial Team:
Co-curated by Zamara Cuyún and William Gustavo Franklin Torres, St. Catherine University 2024-2025 Amy Marie Sears Memorial Visiting Curators in Residence; with Carmen Gutiérrez-Bolger, Lynda Grafito, Marina Castillo, Cecilia Cornejo Sotelo, María Constanza Carballo, Selena Medellín, Deborah Ramos and María José Castillo as curatorial assistants and consultants.
Share your Experience!
The Catherine G. Murphy at St. Catherine University received a Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) Cultural Heritage Grant in support of this exhibition. You can help us measure the success of this grant-funded project by sharing your feedback. Please visit the survey here. Thank you!
Educator & Visitor Guide
This guide is designed as a resource for all visitors, especially college educators and their students, who are eager to engage meaningfully with the artwork on view in the gallery. The content in this guide offers a range of learning opportunities and styles, with the goals of building observational skills, encouraging dialogue, cultivating critical thinking and personal reflection, and ultimately, appreciating art as a form of learning, understanding, and creating a pathway for building empathy, relationships and community at St. Kate’s and beyond. View guide here.
Latina and Latinx MN: A Brief History
Press:
Jacob Aloi, "‘Re/Claiming’ a space for Latina and Latinx art." MPR News, 25 September 2024.
Sheila Regan, "Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by visiting these Twin Cities art exhibits." Minnpost, 18 September 2024.
Alicia Eler, "10 must-see Twin City art exhibitions in fall 2024." Minnesota Star Tribune, 15 September 2024.
Maya Goff, "Thai flavors, Latinx art and a Mexican fiesta celebrate heritage across the Twin Cities." Souhan Journal, 14 September 2024.
Leonor Villasuso Rustad, "Artistas latinas reivindican su espacio en MN." La Voz Latina, 31 August 2024.
"Celebrations of Latina and Latinx Minnesota artists open Gallery 2024–25 season." St. Catherine University Newswire, 6 September 2024.
All events are in-person. Note: For ASL Interpreting and other accommodations, please contact Gallery Director Nicole Watson (nmwatson@stkate.edu) at least one week prior to each event.
Thursday, September 26, 6-8pm: Diversity and Emotional Richness of the LGBTQIA+ Community – Mikha "Mikhamik" Dominguez and Nayelie Avalos in conversation with Martha Driessen (moderator). Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 1, 5-7pm: Shadow Puppetry workshop – Lys Akerman-Frank and Sofía Padilla. Free and open to the public. Limited to 20 participants, RSVP required.
Thursday, October 17, 6-8pm: Representations of Self: Altered States and Familia Connections – Sandra Lucía Castañeda and Adriana Gordillo, moderated by Ivonne Paulina Jasso Yáñez. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 7, 6-8pm: Social practice & Vandalism of Art – Sam Mendez in conversation with Nancy Ariza. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, November 14, 6-8pm: Photography and Motherhood – Selma Fernández Richter in conversation with Carlota Gay. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, December 5, 5-7pm: Printmaking Workshop – led by Lynda Grafito and Nancy Ariza. Free and open to the public. Limited to 16 participants, RSVP required.
Sponsored by the St. Catherine University Mission Chairs and presented in partnership with the St. Catherine University
Amy Marie Sears Memorial Visiting Artist Series.
This work is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Please note: this is a small sampling of artworks included in the exhibition. To request additional images from other artists, please contact Gallery Director Nicole Watson: nmwatson@stkate.edu.
Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra
La Luz, La Sombrisa, y La Galaxia (YouTube video), 2018
Multimedia installation, interdisciplinary performance, durational installation with timed performance.
About: Evolving work telling of specific Lenca oral narratives as well as personal and family narratives. It is an evolving piece with current explorations in ceramics, instrument making, and light installation. Set pieces have involved fabric, costume, basketry sculpture, broken ceramics.
Image Gallery
Click an image to view in larger size
