CLUES Latine Heritage Month Exhibition
CLUES is inviting Minnesota-based Latine artists working in all mediums to apply for our upcoming Latine Heritage Month exhibition, To Be Minnesotane: Ser y Estar.
The exhibition explores identity, belonging, resilience, and what it means to build home in Minnesota while celebrating the richness and diversity of Latine artistic expression.
Exhibition on view: September 10 - November 6, 2026
CLUES Saint Paul Art Gallery
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CLUES invita a artistas latines en Minnesota que trabajen en cualquier medio artístico a postularse para nuestra próxima exhibición del
Mes de la Herencia Latina: To Be Minnesotane: Ser y Estar.
La exhibición explora la identidad, el sentido de pertenencia, la resiliencia y lo que implica construir un hogar en Minnesota y, al mismo tiempo, celebra la riqueza y la diversidad de la expresión artística latina.
Exhibición abierta al público: 10 de septiembre al 6 de noviembre
Galería de Arte de CLUES en Saint Paul.
Latin Luminos
Join us in the Atrium Friday, October 30 through Monday, November 2 for Latin Luminos, a vibrant celebration of culture, art, and community honoring the traditions of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
Throughout the weekend, experience a breathtaking ofrenda (altar) created by Minnesota artisan Margarita Sandoval, whose work reflects her Mexican heritage and deep connection to the symbolism of marigolds, monarch butterflies, and remembrance. Through colorful and meaningful design, her installation invites guests to honor loved ones, celebrate life, and reflect on the enduring connections between past and present.
Inspired by her own journey, Margarita shares:
“My roots come from colors, flowers, flavors, and traditions. I come from the land where the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan, where butterflies were believed to carry the souls of fallen warriors. They called them Quetzalpapálotl, meaning Quetzal Butterfly. Like the monarch butterflies, I too have migrated, traveling many miles and adapting to the unknown. We carry no compass, only a soul full of dreams and hope.”
Enhance your experience with traditional dance performances by Mexica Yolotl at Noon on Friday, October 30 and Sunday, November 1. Guests can also sample Manzanita Sol Pepsi on Sunday, November 1, while supplies last.
Celebrate the beauty of remembrance, culture, and community at this unique Día de los Muertos experience.
Faces Behind the Masks: Exploring Identity, Perception, and Migration Opening Reception
Faces Behind the Masks invites visitors to consider the many ways we see ourselves and are seen by others. Created by artist Lys Akerman-Frank, the exhibition brings together sculptural masks inspired by conversations with eight people whose experiences of identity, belonging, and migration reveal difference and shared humanity.
Each mask offers a visual interpretation of a participant’s story, shaped by memory, culture, resilience, and the assumptions they encounter. Video excerpts from the interviews give participants space to speak in their own voices, adding complexity to what a face alone can communicate. Together, the masks and stories ask what we choose to show, what we protect, and what others may fail to see.
The exhibition invites visitors into that question. Each mask faces a mirror, allowing viewers to stand behind it and see their own reflection wearing someone else’s face. This encounter creates a moment of curiosity and empathy: How might it feel to move through the world as another person? What stories might be hidden behind the mask we present?
Faces Behind the Masks offers a space for reflection and conversation about identity, perception, and the possibility of seeing one another more fully.
Exhibition runs from November 9th to December 21st.
FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE: An Introduction to Marketing Your Photographs
DATES:
Public Lecture: Friday, November 13, 2026 - Finding Your Audience: In Person, In Print, and Online
One-Day Seminar: Saturday, November 14, 2026 - Developing and Presenting Your Photographic Projects
Small Group Project Reviews: Sunday, November 15, 2026
In-person, Minneapolis, MN
This fall, Mary Virginia Swanson, in partnership with La Luz Workshops, will present a series of educational offerings designed to help photographic artists understand the path to bringing their work to a broader audience. An opening Public Lecture, followed by a One-Day Seminar and a final day of Small Group Project Reviews, will provide attendees with a broad understanding of the market for photographs today and best practices to identify and reach appreciative audiences.
Whether you are producing your first body of work or have completed projects ready to share, these timely presentations will provide a “big-picture” overview of critical skills in research, presentation, and marketing that will become a core part of your creative practice.
Join our photography community for a rich weekend of relevant continuing education.
We strongly recommend signing up by October 16, 2026
Learn more at the La Luz website
Mini Huehuetl Workshop
Sign up for a FREE hands-on workshops where you'll learn about the cultural significance of the Huehuetl (pre-hispanic drum from Mexico), while learning one of the lacing techniques to hide the Huehuetl. Limit of 8 participants. If interested, please email Serpentina Arts at serpentina.arts@gmail.com
Workshop will be held at the new Mudluk Pottery Studio | 2908 Harriet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Workshop taught by Chikahuatopiltzin
Sergio Chikahuatopiltzin Quiroz is a Huehuetzonzonkui, researcher, and cultural practitioner with over two decades of experience in Danza Mexica Azteca in the Twin Cities. His focus centers on the Huehuetl — the ancient upright drum of the Mexica/Tolteca — which he approaches not only as a percussionist but as a steward of living knowledge.
"This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund."
Creative Justice: Art as Inquiry, Art as Action
Launched in November 2025, Creative Justice marks the next chapter of CURA’s work at the intersection of art, organizing, and research. The program emerges as the Public Policy Design Lab and the Artist Neighborhood Partnership Initiative sunset, carrying forward their strongest elements while creating a more focused and sustainable structure for supporting emerging artists. Creative Justice is rooted in the understanding that communities need creative power, not only technical analysis, to imagine and build different futures. Art makes research accessible, tells stories that shift public will, and mobilizes people in ways other mediums cannot. By embedding artists directly into CURA’s ongoing research and organizing partnerships, the program supports work that uplifts community voices, deepens engagement, and advances movements for equity and justice. Mentorship and co-learning remain central, with long-standing CURA-affiliated artists mentoring the cohort throughout the year.
In its pilot year, the program supports two emerging artists whose practices are grounded in participatory design, visual storytelling, illustration, and creative communication. Over the course of the year, artists participate fully in the community-based research process, contributing to project scoping, community engagement, research methods, and the creation of artistic and narrative deliverables.
Their time is divided across three connected dimensions:
Training and mentorship in community-based research and organizing
Collaboration with CURA staff and student researchers on active organizing and research partnerships
Development of a community-engaged creative project that advances a partner’s goals.
Artists are embedded within the Kris Nelson Community-Based Research cohort, participate in Neighborhoods Now! for organizing training, and conclude the year with a public exhibition that showcases their creative inquiry and partnerships. The program strengthens CURA’s ability to communicate research, supports artists as they grow their practices, and expands community partners’ capacity to use art as a tool for organizing, imagination, and action.
The next cohort will launch in Winter 2027, with the application opening in October 2026
Creative Justice artwork by Onibaba Studio.
Fall Sale on the St. Croix Trail
As we slide through the summer, our thoughts turn to our Fall sale in September. Alana Cuellar and I are thrilled to have guest potters Olivia Jenson, Peter Paul, and Willem Gebben, Peruvian weavings by Melanie Ebertz's ArtAndes, jewelry by Amber White, and beeswax candles by Hilltop Handmade Goods. Woodfire pizza, too!
Venezuela
Last month’s twin earthquakes in Venezuela, their terrible toll, and the current ordeals of the Venezuelan population weigh heavily. The earthquakes have dwarfed the continuing political turmoil in the country as survivors face dramatic challenges. The response by many organizations and a thoughtful public is a source of hope, though it will be a very, very, long, hard recovery.
To send support to the victims, we held a raffle of a platter on Instagram. The generous contributions of so many good folks allowed us to raise $3,400 that we sent directly to World Central Kitchen supporting their work in Venezuela. Active on the ground, they feed displaced people and aid workers, and collaborate with local restaurants and food organizations. A certified list of other organizations can be found at: Curated Directory
Locaiton: 18855 263rd Street | Shafer, MN 55074 US
Learn more: https://www.guillermopottery.com/#
MN FILMS at the FAIR!
Square Lake Film & Music is beyond excited to present five nights of Minnesota-made film & animation at the 2026 Minnesota State Fair on August 28, 29 & September 4-6. They’ll’ll be screening films outdoors after sunset on a large screen situated near the Pet Pavillion in the NW corner of the fairgrounds near Machinery Hill.
Submission info:
Submissions are now open for the inaugural “MN Films at the Fair” presented by Square Lake Film & Music on weekend evenings at the 2026 Minnesota State Fair: 8/28-29 & 9/4-6. We’re looking for short film & animation (15 seconds to 15 min) from all genres made by artists from all across Minnesota. There are no submission fees. Each selected film will be screened at the largest event in Minnesota. We’ll showcase participating artists at the screenings with post-film Q/As and promotional opportunities.
Early Submission: June 15. Regular Submission: July 6. Final Deadline: July 27. Screening decisions announced in early August.
Click here for their FilmFreeway submission link or email squarelakefestival@gmail.com
The Star Party
The Star Party is an art making activity, community gathering, and overhead projector story telling time for anxious, irritated, and scared adults.
August 23rd 5:17-8:09pm, Class starts at 6:17pm
Studio #247 - Northrup King Building
RSVP by August 23rd using this link.
Serpentina Arts Presents...Meximalismo Exhibition + Fashion Show
Serpentina Arts invites you to our upcoming exhibition and fashion show centered on the theme currently trending titled MEXIMALISMO (Latin Maximalism), which is a vibrant cultural and design movement celebrating Latin identity through "more is more" aesthetics, featuring bold colors, rich textures, artisan craftsmanship, and popular culture symbols.
Opening Exhibit Reception & Fashion Show: Saturday, August 15th at 6pm-9pm
Fashion Show: Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 7:30pm
Exhibition on view: August 15 - September 12, 2026
LOCATION: NE Sculpture Gallery / Factory | 1720 Northeast Madison Street #14, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413
INVENTARIO ÍNTIMO
SOLO EXHIBITION BY IVONNE YAÑEZ
July 31–August 21
Opening reception: July 31, 6-8 pm
Gallery hours: August 8, 9, 15, & 16, 12-4 pm
Inventario Íntimo examines how ordinary domestic objects become repositories of memory, identity, and belonging. Familiar items such as a coffee pot, a comb, and a mirror are reimagined at an enlarged scale, disrupting their everyday function and inviting sustained attention. Through this shift, the exhibition considers how repeated gestures and daily rituals shape one’s experience of home.
Working primarily with textiles and soft sculptural forms, Ivonne Yáñez transforms commonplace objects into bodily presences. Their altered scale and tactile surfaces blur the boundaries between object, architecture, and body, suggesting that domestic space is not only inhabited but continuously constructed through routine, care, and memory.
Created while moving between Mexico and the United States, these works have reflected on the instability of home under conditions of migration. Rather than depicting displacement directly, they attend to the quiet accumulations through which absence and attachment become embedded in material culture. The familiar becomes unfamiliar, allowing everyday objects to function as sites where personal and collective histories converge.
Intimate Inventory invites viewers to consider what is carried across places, what remains after movement, and how the body itself can become a vessel for belonging when the idea of home is continually redefined.
CLUES Latine Heritage Month Open Call
CLUES is inviting Minnesota-based Latine artists working in all mediums to apply for our upcoming Latine Heritage Month exhibition, To Be Minnesotane: Ser y Estar.
The exhibition explores identity, belonging, resilience, and what it means to build home in Minnesota while celebrating the richness and diversity of Latine artistic expression.
Exhibition on view: September 10 - November 6, 2026
CLUES Saint Paul Art Gallery
DEADLINE: 'August 5, 2026
Apply Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4biWR_G7lIpXpBN6daygvZs8yEXugd22BToNrbhI4lU_myw/viewform
GRAPHIC MEMOIR FOR LATINE ARTISTS
Announcing a new workshop taught by Camila Leiva:
GRAPHIC MEMOIR FOR LATINE ARTISTS!
If you’ve never made comics, but always wanted to try, this is your chance! And if you make comics and want a dedicated space to learn and create in the company of other Latine artists, this is also your chance!
Teacher bio: Camila Leiva is a comic artist from Santiago, Chile, born in 1987 during the final years of the military dictatorship. She began making comics in 2016 as a way to tell her family’s stories and process her own experiences, studying under comic artist Marcela Trujillo (@maliki4ojos) and developing a hand-drawn style using pen and ink. Since then, she has self-published short comics and zines, and earned an MFA from the University of Minnesota in 2023. Her current work focuses on a graphic novel about her grandmother, human rights lawyer Fabiola Letelier, whose fight for justice during the dictatorship deeply shaped Camila’s childhood. Camila has received two Minnesota State Arts Board grants to support the project. In 2023, a short comic about her grandmother’s memory loss was published in Brigida Magazine (@revistabrigida )
When: Starts Wednesday, July 1st and goes for six consecutive Wednesdays.
The dates of the sessions are: 7/1, 7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/29, 8/5
Time: From 6-8pm
Location: Curiosity Studio, 3607 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
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Anunciando un nueva clase que voy a dar:
CÓMIC AUTOBIOGRÁFICO PARA ARTISTAS LATINES!
Si nunca has hecho cómics, pero siempre has querido, ¡esta es tu oportunidad! Si ya haces cómics y te gustaría un tiempo dedicado para crear y aprender en comunidad con otros artistas Latines, ¡esta también es tu oportunidad!
Para registrarse escribir a: CAMILALEI@GMAIL.COM
La clase comienza miércoles, 1 de julio, y dura seis miércoles consecutivos. La clase será de mucho valor para les participantes, pero es gratuita! Recibí un fondo del estado de Minnesota para educación artística. La clase será en el hermoso espacio de @curiositystudio_ en la Lake Street.
Camila Leiva es una dibujante de cómics de Santiago de Chile, nacida en 1987 durante los últimos años de la dictadura militar. Comenzó a crear cómics en 2016 como una forma de contar las historias de su familia y procesar sus propias experiencias, estudiando con la dibujante Marcela Trujillo (@maliki4ojos) y desarrollando un estilo de dibujo a mano con pluma y tinta. Desde entonces, ha autopublicado cómics cortos y fanzines, y obtuvo una Maestría en Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Minnesota en 2023. Su trabajo actual se centra en una novela gráfica sobre su abuela, la abogada de derechos humanos Fabiola Letelier, cuya lucha por la justicia durante la dictadura marcó profundamente la infancia de Camila. Camila ha recibido dos becas del Consejo Estatal de las Artes de Minnesota para apoyar el proyecto. En 2023, un cómic corto sobre la pérdida de memoria de su abuela se publicó en la revista Brigida (@revistabrigida).
ASCO: Without Permission
Join Serpentina Arts for the Minneapolis debut of ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION (@ascofilm) directed by Travis Gutiérrez Senger, with executive producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, and starring Patssi Valdez, Harry Gamboa Jr., Willie Herrón, and Gronk.
Serpentina Arts has 30 free tickets for the screening on Wednesday, June 17, at 7:00pm at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis.
Email us at serpentina.arts@gmail.com to claim your ticket. First come, first serve!
ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles based, Chicano art group of the 70's-80's, ASCO, who merged activism and art as they challenged representation in the art world, Hollywood and the news media. Unrecognized in their time, they are now being considered amongst the most important artists of the 20th century. Utilizing a wholly original approach to filmmaking where nonfiction and fiction are interconnected through collaborative film works made with the next generation of Latinx artists, "Without Permission" reimagines what is possible today in cinema and art while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time. From executive producers, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna.
All At Once
Meet All at Once, a Twin Cities–based collective of visionary puppeteers of color. Sofía Padilla, Oanh Vu, Andrew Young, and Erica Warren combine their diverse cultural roots and artistic practices to create bold, immersive performances through shadow, tabletop, and rod puppetry.
Developed through story circles with BIPOC South Minneapolis residents, their new show, Boundless / Sin límites, invites audiences into a fantastical world grounded in local history and lived experience. In this work, Sol, a young person sheltering in place from ICE is swept into a time-traveling journey by Coyote, a trickster deity—moving through the layered histories of the Southside while uncovering identity, migration, and connection to community.
Blending visual storytelling with memory, myth, and place, All at Once creates an immersive experience that bridges personal and collective transformation.
Suggested age range: 12+. Content Warning: includes cursing, depictions of detention & deportation, ICE, and mild physical violence.
Pay what you can. Purchase tickets here.
Weekend Workshop: Blue Poems Under the Sun: Cyanotype Printmaking
At Highpoint Center for Printmaking
This workshop combines creative writing with hands-on cyanotype printmaking. Participants will begin by writing a short poem (either during class or brought from home) drawing inspiration from BIPOC poets who work with brevity, such as haiku or micro-poems.
Students will then layer text with natural or found objects on light-sensitive cyanotype paper to create visual-poetic prints. The workshop emphasizes experimentation, reflection, and the relationship between language and image, resulting in unique blue-toned prints that merge writing and photography-based printmaking.
This workshop will be taught in both English and Spanish.
Date/Time: Sunday, 10am-4pm; 4/19
Ages: 18+
Cost: $100
Registration deadline: Register by 4/12/26
Maximum enrollment: 12
Instructor: Lucino Sosa
Skill Level: Beginner level, no previous experience required.
Weekend Workshop: Relief Printing: Food for Thought!
At Highpoint Center for Printmaking
Food can be a direct reflection of our culture, comforts, values, and personality! Food plays a large role in human connection and socialization. Did you know, research shows eating in good company positively supports digestion?
In this workshop, participants will bring in an image of one or more food items that have personal, cultural, political, or familial significance – or simply an item they like! Some suggestions include cultural foods, celebratory foods, comfort foods, the ingredients for a family recipe, staple pantry items, go-to spices, condiments, sauces, beverages, nostalgic snacks, herbs, or favorite produce.
Through demonstrations, participants will learn how to identify positive & negative space, safe carving practices, different carving techniques, and effective ink application to create relief prints of their food items on paper, tote bags, and/or bandanas. Participants will also collaborate with other participants and combine relief prints to create “grocery haul” style prints.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $100
Registration deadline: Register by 4/5/26
Maximum enrollment: 12
Instructor: Sherrill Zheng
Skill Level: Previous relief printing and drawing experience is helpful, but not required.
Upcoming Events
Fostering the creativity and professional development of Minnesota Latinx visual artists through exhibits and pop-up events.
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