Son de Allá y Son de Acá brings together Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x artists from across the American Southwest, connecting artistic communities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Organized as a series of collaborative exhibitions, the project seeks to bring greater attention to artists living and working in historically underrepresented communities while creating opportunities for exchange, dialogue, and collaboration across state lines.

The exhibition considers the impact of place in shaping artistic practices throughout a region connected by shared cultural, historical, and political experiences. These relationships extend beyond contemporary national boundaries, reflecting histories that precede the establishment of the United States and Mexico. Working across painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, installation, and performance, participating artists address questions of identity, family, labor, migration, and belonging while challenging assumptions about what contemporary art from the Southwest can look like.

Rather than presenting a singular understanding of Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x identity, Son de Allá y Son de Acá recognizes the differences that distinguish these communities alongside the histories and experiences that connect them. Through its changing venues and participating artists, the project creates opportunities for artists to encounter one another’s work, establish new relationships, and build connections between creative communities that have often developed independently despite their geographic and cultural proximity.

Exhibition History

In August of 2022, Rigoberto Luna, Vicente Telles, and Ricardo Islas organized Son de Allá y Son de Acá across four venues in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Tortuga Gallery, El Chante: Casa de Cultura, South Broadway Cultural Center, and Exhibit/208, the exhibition brought together artists from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Drawing upon their respective artistic communities and professional networks, the three organizers created a collaborative exhibition that extended beyond a single institution.

Following the Albuquerque presentation, the organizers developed a second iteration for Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center in San Diego. The exhibition introduced a revised selection of artists, including additional participants from Arizona, and welcomed curator Christian Ramírez to the organizing team. Her involvement expanded the project’s curatorial representation across the four Southwestern states bordering Mexico.