New Exhibitions Opening at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos

Join us at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos to celebrate the opening of two Visualizing Abolition exhibitions: Visions From Within: Women of Resilience , a new exhibition of art curated by Elizabeth Lozano and Anthony Alejandrez for the Visualizing Abolition Transition Fellowship Program, and Elevar la Cultura , a 22-foot public sculpture by artist and two-time Right of Return Fellow Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez. The opening will feature panel discussions by currently and formerly incarcerated artists and organizers, remarks by artist Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez, low riders, live entertainment, free food, and more. Visions From Within: Women of Resilience features newly commissioned paintings, drawings, and works in other mediums by people currently incarcerated in the two women’s facilities in California, Central California Facility for Women and California Institute for Women. The artists included in the show differently illuminate how they cultivate resilience—maintaining a sense of self and purpose—in circumstances designed to perpetuate harm. “Art, poetry, gardening and other ways of tapping into my creativity was essential to my own state of mind during my own thirty years of incarceration,” explains co-curator Elizabeth Lozano. “I wanted to provide others an outlet to express their imaginations, while they continue their journeys to also get free.” Elevar la Cultura , an immersive sculptural installation featuring a twenty-two-foot-tall pyramid built from ice coolers adorned with ancestral textiles, sacred symbols, and mural work will be on view at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos (1817 Soquel) November 7, 2026- March 7, 2027. As Quiñonez explains, this sculpture epitomizes the contradictions of living—and laboring—as an immigrant in the United States: “Most people see the cooler as a tool for leisure…for barbecues, tailgating, and celebrations. But for immigrant communities, the cooler is a tool and symbol for opportunity and independence. In every major city, you see families

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