Current Exhibition

Concrete Hope

Esperanza Concreta

September 23, 2025 – May 9, 2026

Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 14, 5 - 8 p.m.
Keynote Address: Tuesday, October 14, 3 – 4:40 p.m. in the Student Services Center, Main Auditorium. 

The works that collide within Concrete Hope speak to the intricacies and complexities of belonging to a community of individuals united aesthetically by culture, transcending national boundaries. Concrete Hope features equal parts piñatas, abuelitas, cholos, tatuajes, virgencitas, mercados, rosarios, metates, petates, buganvilias, escapularios, veladoras, primas, primos, letreros, gente de nuestra comunidad, gallos, emblemas nacionales, ventanales, ladrillos, sobadores, pirámides, manteles, familia, y fotografías.

Concrete Hope’s aesthetic axis is the celebration of all things Brown, Mexican American, Nepantlera, Mestiza, Indigenous, Chicanx, Mexican Irish, Afro Mexicana, Chicano, Latine, Undocumented, Oaxaqueñe, Yaqui, Migrant, Guatemalan Mexican, Salvadoran, Mexipino (Mexican Filipino), Chapin, Immigrant, Undoc+, and Jaxican (Japanese Mexican), et. al., which stands as a reflection of self-affirmation of the lived experiences of the complex brown community in Southern California. 

Concrete Hope brings together thirty-eight emergent photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California who explore an assortment of installation media as materiality for the photographic depictions.

Curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil.

Featured photographers and lens-based artists

Special Events

2 to 4 p.m., November 22, 2025

• Herencia Labora • Performance by Alkaid Ramirez

• Castillo • Mendoza • Ramirez In Conversation