Artists: Jenny Armer - Aurora Bewicke - Claudia Cano - Evan Chau - Cloud Club Collective - David Contreras - Ty and Sam Creighton - Bronle Crosby - Alex DeCosta - Dana Edwards - Francisco Eme - Gabrielle Espina - Scott Gengelbach - Rosario Glezmir - Sofia Gonzalez - Chitra Gopalakrishnan - Julia C R Gray - Steve Harlow - Doug Harvey - Vijay Hingorani - Terri Hughes-Oelrich - Amanda Kachadoorian - Sophie Kamdar - Desiree Lawrence - Elena Lomakin - Santiago Lopez - Isa Medina - Teresa Mill - Michelle Montjoy - Kathy Nida - Elizabeth Parr - Omar Pimienta - Wendy Ponomarenko - Kim Reasor - Josie Rodriguez - Taylour Rudzinski - Elizabeth Salaam - Julia San Román - Sage Serrano - Jennifer Spencer - Elizabeth Tobias - Litzy Torres - Thuyduyen Jenny - Jennifer Vargas.

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In times of isolation, division and hopelessness, art has played a significant role in reminding us of the power of What Can Be. Art plants the seeds for a more sustainable and harmonious future. This exhibit brings together 44 remarkable artists to address issues of disharmony in our time—in our relationship with the land, with each other and with ourselves—and to envision an ecologically balanced future. The exquisite collection incorporates a diverse variety of media, from oil paintings and assemblages to sculptures and installations featuring living fungi. It represents merging artists from local high schools and colleges, as well as Mesa alumni and established artists. Together, they invoke the power of art as a universal language and as a catalyst for change and healing.

 

Multiple artworks capture and examine the unique ecology of our region and the decisions we make as a society to protect or plunder the natural resources of our coast and canyons. They bring attention to the complex state of transborder waterways, to the extinction of native insects and to the delicate ocean ecosystems threatened by pollution. Other pieces spotlight the dire need for conservation in a region of California facing record-breaking droughts, extreme heat and overeliance on water that sustains our manicured lawns.

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Nurturing and renewal are guiding concepts in many of the artists’ works. They celebrate the caretakers of the land, whether they are immigrant agricultural workers or the indigenous Kumeyaay. They acknowledge and celebrate actions that show that the seeds we plant speak of more than the fruit we bear, they reveal the social and legal systems that can serve as fertile grounds or unyielding wastelands to those looking for a better future.

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Breathtaking images of the natural world, real and imagined, move us to commune with the Earth. They awaken in the viewer a deep, Zen-like mindfulness of the profound and fundamental relationships that exist in the space between breaths. We are invited to meditate and quiet our minds by observing nature: noticing insects buzzing, flowers blooming, seeds scattering and providing an intimate moment full of hope.

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This exhibition was curated by the college Museum Studies class under the direction of Professor Alessandra Moctezuma. Artworks were selected from a regional call for artists and the students were in charge of all aspects of the exhibition including art selection, installation and promotion.

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Museum Studies Fall 2021 class: Juan Carlos Araiza, Dana Bjelland, Lisa Chamberlain, Evan Chau, Krae Cook, Ty Creighton, Gabrielle Espina, April Ibarra Siqueiros, Kaitlyn Lewis, Kaylee Lien, Leah Metcalf, Jasmyne Morgan, Yessenia Perez, Wendy Ponomarenko, Lauren Reed, Ana Valdeolivar, Rae Zundel.