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.
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
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