Chicano Camera Culture: A Photographic History, 1966 to 2026

Riverside Art Museum & The Cheech | February 7 – September 6, 2026

"Chicano Camera Culture: A Photographic History, 1966 to 2026 is the first major survey to examine the depth and evolution of Chicana/o/x lens-based image-making over the past 60 years. Featuring some 150 works by nearly 50 U.S. Chicana/o/x artists, the exhibition moves thematically and intergenerationally, spanning early activist photographers with contemporary artists whose work builds upon this powerful legacy."

"Curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, the exhibition includes work by such trailblazing figures as Luis C. Garza, George Rodriguez, and María Varela, who documented the political struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s, Louis Carlos Bernal was the first Chicano to intentionally pursue photography artistically, thus fomenting the move from documentation to varied creative approaches.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kathy Vargas, Robert Buitrón, Ricardo Valverde, and others experimented with constructed imagery, while figures like Christina Fernández and Ken Gonzales-Day endowed their work with conceptual rigor."

"Throughout this history, many photographers explored portraiture, underscoring the camera's role in fostering self-representation and autonomy. These works range from Harry Gamboa Jr.'s Chicano Male Unbonded to Laura Aguilar's powerful nude self-portraits addressing her identity as queer, disabled, and marginalized. 

More recent artists—including Star Montana, Arlene Mejorado, Thalía Gochez, and Eduardo L Rivera—work with installation, digital platforms, social media, and fashion aesthetics, to explore selfhood, family, and contemporary life."

A catalog with the same title was published to accompany the exhibition.

Flat Tires

Light Work | Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery | June 15 - August 7, 2026

"The car is possibly the most ubiquitous and durable photographic subject. It is deeply embedded in daily life and the collective imagination. It operates as a site of self-expression, a space for solitude and a canvas upon which individualism is expressed. The car carries profound contradictions. It is a carefully engineered object of design, a status symbol, yet also a source of stress, expense, and annoyance. It offers freedom and escape but can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. It is a dangerous, deadly, machine we allow 16-year-olds to operate. It can be an object of beauty or an eyesore or both at the same time. The photographs in this exhibition explore the car in its many forms and potential meanings. The images oscillate between intimacy, spectacle, utility, and fantasy. They showcase how this enduring subject is completely customizable."

Artists Include: Karl Baden, Dawoud Bey, Jonathan Michael Castillo, Larry Cook, Kerry Stuart Coppin, Rob Contreras, Eileen Emond, Smith Galtney, Keith Johnson, Phil Jung, Karolina Karlic, Clifford Prince King, John Lehr, Roger Mertin, Nick Meyer, Abigail Montes, Matthew Monteith, Alex Nelson, Dylan Nelson, Christina Niazian, Josh Poehlein, Jon Reis, Eduardo L Rivera, Amy Stein, Kelsey "Chloë" Sucena, Chris Sullivan, and Caroline Wallis.

https://www.lightwork.org/archive/flat-tires/

Hampshire College

Hampshire announced its closing during the Spring '26 semester, and 250 staff and faculty were faced with sudden job loss without severance pay. 

If you are able to, please consider donating to their Emergency Relief Fund:

https://www.helphampshireworkers.com/

Work In Progress

A song I’ve been singing with my grandmother

https://open.spotify.com/track/760r2LXNtMaHDKMQ5wkXbi?si=8c89ee5920114a70