Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples

Opens June 14 | Great Hall

Experience intergenerational, feminist, queer, and Xicanx-Indigenous artworks offering ancestral forms of liberation, healing, and being at Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples, only at OMCA.

“Calli,” derived from Nahuatl, signifies the essence of home, family, and lineage. Immerse yourself in thought-provoking original artworks, installations, sculpture, painting, photography, poetry, and more, that showcase and honor the stories of Xicanx peoples across California in this temporary “Xicanx home.” 

Calli layers multiple artistic perspectives, featuring posters from late queer Chicana activist and professor Margaret “Margie” Terrazas Santos’ collection in conversation with contemporary works by Xicanx artists who expand the horizons of possibility, inspiring reflection and fostering dialogue about a world in which we can all belong.

Discover exhibition highlights by featured artists including:

  • rafa esparza’s adobe Mesoamerican stylized temple installation
  • Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s site-specific Borderline installation conveying U.S.-Mexico border issues such as land commodification, militarization, dehumanization, and its ecological effects
  • Gina Aparicio’s ceramic and earth-based installation with audio composed by musician Joe Galarza, a member of Aztlan Underground
  • Melanie Cervantes’ soft sculpture installation of the Aztec moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui

This exhibition opens June 14, 2024. Though Calli will be open to the public starting Friday, June 14, 2024, the exhibition will be closed to the general public from 3 pm–5 pm for a private viewing for contributing artists and their guests. The exhibition will be reopened to the public for OMCA’s Friday late-night gallery access starting at 5 pm until 9 pm.

opening day TICKETs
TICKETs June 15–30
TICKETs after June 30
Free MEMBER TICKETS
Free MEMBER TICKETS
Free MEMBER TICKETS

Want to see it free? Members get unlimited admission to special exhibitions and galleries. Learn more about membership.

Highlights

Image of serigraph on paper art with Los Angeles County sheriff car, officers on either side, in front of The Silver Dollar
August 29, 1970 Carlos F. Jackson, August 29, 1970, 2016. © Carlos F. Jackson
Image of art: A narrow triangular American flag, with flowers embroidered
Border Flowers Flag Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, Border Flowers Flag, 2008. Courtesy of Ruiz-Healy Art, New York, San Antonio. © Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
Image of serigraph on paper art, deep blue background with a full moon at the top and a figure, holding a bright green cactus, face up towards the moon
Dando Gracias Leo Limón, Dando Gracias, 1983. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the Terrazas Martin Family on behalf of Margaret Terrazas Santos. © Self Help Graphics & Art/ Leo Limón
Image of serigraph on paper, with a two-sided figure, and the words Expresion Chicana above, and below the details for an exhibit of Chicana art at Mills College
Expresion Chicana Linda Lucero, Expresion Chicana, 1976. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the Terrazas Martin Family on behalf of Margaret Terrazas Santos. © La Raza Silkscreen Center, Inc./ Linda Lucero
Art image: colorful eagle print
Unidentified Artist Untitled (Eagle Glyph) Serigraph on paper 28.625” x 22.625” Ca. 1960s-70s Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the Terrazas Martin Family on behalf of Margaret Terrazas Santos
Image of photograph of a person, head and limbs obscured, lying on the a ground
Grounded #103 Laura Aguilar, Grounded #103, 2006-2007 (printed 2018). Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. © Laura Aguilar Trust of 2016
Photograph of a bright yellow cart, holding small potted plants, with the text "Botanica del Barrio" in bold red and green letters
La Botanica del Barrio Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes, La Botanica del Barrio in collaboration with Gabriel Guerrero and Jessica Moreno, 2016.
Image: Serigraph on paper art
Unidentified Artist Untitled (Teotihuacan) Serigraph on paper 21.75 x 29.875” ca. 1960s-70s Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the Terrazas Martin Family on behalf of Margaret Terrazas Santos
Image of a print of a woman in braids set against a dark background
Victoria Ocelotl Yreina D. Cervántez, Victoria Ocelotl, 1983. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the Terrazas Martin Family on behalf of Margaret Terrazas Santos. © Yreina D. Cervántez

ARTISTS

Margaret Alarcón, Juana Alicia, Gina Aparicio, Jesus Barraza, Irene Carranza,  Melanie Cervantes, Yreina D. Cervántez, rafa esparza, Rupert García, Louie González, Judithe Hernández, Nancy Hom, Carlos Jackson, Consuelo Jiménez-Underwood, Lèo Limón, Alma López, Yolanda López, S. Lowe, Linda Lucero, Dalila Paola Méndez, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes, Tomás Morales, Cherríe Moraga, Viviana Paredes, Manuel Paul, Calixto Robles, Celia H. Rodríguez, Eugene Rodriguez, Patricia Rodriguez, Rachael Romero, Jos Sances, Herbert Sigüenza, Gino Squadrito, Dewey Tafoya, Joey Terrill,  John Jairo Valencia, Xavier Viramontes, Andrew Zermeño, Kalli Arte, Tierra y Libertad Press

Sponsors

Major support for Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.

Additional thanks to State Senator Nancy Skinner for support of the Calli Americas Political Poster Digitization Project.