Past Events

It’s time to celebrate! Join us in the downtown Oakland on March 19th from 4-6pm as we mark the Historic Central Building’s 100-year milestone.

We’re launching our new Amenities Room, featuring ping pong and more, and unveiling a stunning art exhibition by Melanie Cervantes. RSVP here in my bio and don’t miss out on the fun!

Haight Street Art Center is proud to present Melanie Cervantes: Viva La Mujer in our main galleries opening March 14, 2026. Save the date for the March 14th Opening Party from 5-9pm and keep an eye out for more events and print workshops to come.

The exhibition is a series of prints and multimedia projects centering Indigenous women and Third world and indigenous movements. Through screenprints, posters and sculptures, Cervantes amplifies the enduring power of her people and the deep well of wisdom held by community healers, organizers, and visionaries. The work engages issues central to her community in an effort to inspire solidarity and bring about justice. These works don’t just reflect struggle—they celebrate survival. They honor those who, even in the face of oppression, choose to build, protect, and dream. Each piece is a rallying cry and a love letter, crafted to energize our spirits and remind us of the brilliance within our collective resistance. Each print becomes an altar, each poster a call to honor the strength woven through generations. Highlights of the exhibit will include new works on paper screen printed by Cervantes in studio here at Haight Street Art Center and Cervantes’ soft sculpture installation of the Mexica (Aztec) moon goddess “La Más Xingonx: Coyolxauhqui Re-membered.”

“My work is shaped by the struggles, injustices, and resilience I witnessed in my communities,” says Cervantes.  “These experiences inform not just the content of my art, but the way I approach collaboration and cultural work. From my earliest stencil and poster workshops to large-scale installations and soft sculptures, I’ve sought to center the stories and voices of those too often erased, creating spaces for people to connect, reflect, and act. Working alongside communities, whether locally or internationally, has reinforced my belief that art can be a tool for solidarity, social transformation, and collective care.”

Melanie Cervantes (Xicanx) has never lived far from the California Coast. Born in Harbor City, California and raised in a small city in the South Bay of Los Angeles Melanie now makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area where she creates visual art that is inspired by the people around her and her communities’ desire for radical social transformation. Melanie’s intention is to create a visual lexicon of resistance to multiple oppressions that will to inspire curiosity, raise consciousness and inspire solidarities among communities of struggle.

In 2007 she co-founded Dignidad Rebelde, a graphic arts collaboration that produces screen prints, political posters and multimedia projects that are grounded in Third World and indigenous movements that build people’s power to transform the conditions of fragmentation, displacement and loss of culture that result from histories of colonialism, patriarchy, genocide, and exploitation. Dignidad Rebelde’s purpose is to illustrate stories of struggle, resistance and triumph into artwork that can be put back into the hands of the communities who inspire it.

Cervantes has exhibited extensively nationally including at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco); National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago); and Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY) and internationally at the Musée d’Aquitaine (Bordeaux, France), Galerija Alkatraz (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Museo Franz Mayer (Mexico City, Mexico). Her work is in the permanent collections of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the Latin American Collection of the Green Library at Stanford, the Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College and the Library of Congress and the as well as various other public and private collections throughout the U.S.

Haight Street Art Center is proud to present Melanie Cervantes: Bringing Back Ourselves, now open in the Garden Gallery.     Check out an interview with the artist here!

Radical Histories: Chicanx Prints from the Smithsonian American Art Museum features 60 works drawn from SAAM’s collection of Latinx art, one of the leading national collections of its kind. The exhibition includes work by more than 40 artists and collectives including Lalo Alcaraz, Yreina D. Cervántez, Dignidad Rebelde (Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes), Juan Fuentes, Rupert García, Ester Hernandez, Luis Jiménez, Alma Lopez, Yolanda López, Malaquias Montoya, Royal Chicano Air Force, among others. An extension of SAAM’s first exhibition on the subject, the landmark ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, Radical Histories concentrates on Chicanx artists’ efforts to assert multiple views of American history.

Artists featured in Radical Histories created graphic counter-histories—from ancient to contemporary times—posing questions regarding American identity, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and borders. These Chicanx printmakers educated and agitated the public by presenting political and social themes as declarations of political advocacy and manifestations of cross-cultural solidarity. They also used political graphics to galvanize community support around issues of labor equality, supporting the farm workers’ movements of California and Texas by creating vivid images informed by satire, Pop Art, and Conceptualism. Moreover, they drew upon established traditions such as Mexican codices, reimagined popular calendar formats, and produced elaborate multilingual event posters to promote political action and heighten awareness of anti-war and pro-peace movements. Recurring subjects include immigration and the borderlands.

The exhibition also explores commemorative portraiture. Using photographs as references, Chicanx artists resurrected and memorialized unknown and underrepresented artists and historical figures, offering overdue recognition to many individuals of color for their important contributions to society. Highlighting the importance of language in Chicanx graphics, Radical Histories also examines the interplay between text and image, the artistic deployment of poetry, graffiti, and historical quotations, among other literary devices, to communicate with the public.

Radical Histories was organized by Claudia Zapata, former curatorial assistant for Latinx art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Cal State Channel Islands (CSUCI) will host Bay Area Xicanx artist and cultural worker Melanie Cervantes for a solo exhibition, “Protect Your Spirit: Visual Lexicons of Resistance,” from Oct. 23 through Dec. 12 in the second-floor gallery of the John Spoor Broome Library.

An opening reception open to the public will be held Thursday, Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. at the Broome Library. Cervantes will also provide an artist talk for CSUCI students on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at noon, at the Broome Library.

Cervantes’ work offers a powerful visual language of resistance against social injustice and systemic oppression. Her art explores stories of struggle, resilience and triumph within marginalized communities and invites reflection on the role of art in social movements.

“There is both an ephemeral and a timeless nature to Cervantes’ art,” said CSUCI art historian Theresa Avila. “In this era of increased repression and surveillance, the type of art that Cervantes creates is needed now more than ever.”

Cervantes has exhibited her work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Musée d’Aquitaine in France, and the Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City.

The “Protect Your Spirit” exhibition underscores CSUCI’s commitment to showcasing artists whose work challenges perceptions and fosters community engagement through creativity and critical thought.

Event details:

• Artist Talk (CSUCI students only): Tuesday, Oct. 21, noon, Broome Library
• Public Opening Reception: Thursday, Oct. 23, 5 p.m., Broome Library second-floor gallery
• Exhibition Dates: Oct. 23–Dec. 12, 2025
• Admission: Free

For more information, contact Nicholas Centino at nicholas.centino@csuci.edu or Theresa Avila at theresa.avila@csuci.edu

Colors of the Border: Art, Identity, and Connection
Location: California Center for the Arts Museum, 340 N. Escondido Blvd, Escondido, CA 92025

Following the powerful impact of XICANA! at El Camino College, ESMoA is proud to present the next evolution: XICANA! San Diego in collaboration with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. This expanded Experience brings together artists from the original Los Angeles-based show alongside new voices from San Diego County, creating a dynamic cross-regional dialogue rooted in Chicana identity, resistance, and creative expression.

Presented under the theme “Colors of the Border: Art, Identity, and Connection,” this groundbreaking exhibition explores the role of art as a bridge between communities and a vessel for shared stories. With more than 200 works by over 100 artists, visitors will encounter murals, photography, sculpture, and immersive installations that explore themes of migration, resilience, cultural heritage, and collective memory.

Anchoring the exhibition is the monumental Tonantzin by guest artist Louis Verdad – a 14-foot-high sculpture blending fashion, Mesoamerican mythology, and fine art into a contemporary altar honoring Mother Earth and feminine divinity. See ESMoA EXTENSION Experience 65: Tonantzin.

At a time of deep national division and ongoing border debates, XICANA! San Diego stands as a peaceful call to action – a space for reflection, healing, and connection through the transformative power of art.

Curator: Dulce Stein

Participating Artists Include: Adriana Alfaro, Adriana V. Gutierrez, Alma Lopez, Alma Rosas, Alondra Buccio, Alondra Zamorano, Andrea Ruvalcaba, Anna Siqueiros, ARTGABA, Beatriz Nicki De Necochea, Bianca Argueta, Bonnie Lambert, Brenda Trujillo, Camille Rose Garcia, Carolyn T. Young, Cat Machine Gems (Cat Morales), Celeste de Luna, Celeste Martinez de Luna, Claudia Lucero, Cocoy Garcia, Consuelo Flores, Daisy Zavala, Demi Pinal, Diane Gamboa, Dolores Carlos, Dolores Guerrero-Cruz, Edalia Olivo-Gomez, Elidé Sanchez, Elizabeth Munzon, Elsa Flores, Emilia Cruz, Endy Trece, Erika Flores, Ester Petschar, Favianna Rodriguez, Gabriela Zapata, Gail Gutierrez, Ginette Rondeau, Gloria Favela Rocha, Gloria Niebla, Gloria Vasquez-Warner, Grace Barraza-Vega, Griselda Renteria, Hedy Trevino, Hedy V. Torres Cardenas, Heidy Salinas, Isabel “Chavela” Figueroa, Jacqueline Hernandez “Las Chicas Peligrosas”, Jacqueline Valenzuela, Janette Delgadillo, Jasmine Soledawg V, Jennifer Morgan, Jessica Santiago Cihua Mazatl, Jessie Villa, Judith Francisca Baca, Judithe Hernandez, Julia Chavez, Julia Martinez, Kathy Zamora, Kikki Eder, Laura Aguilar, Laura E. Alvarez, Liliana Hueso, Linda Vallejo, Lisa Cabrera, Magda Audifred, Margaret Garcia, Maria Elena Castro, Maria Islas, Maria Platas, Marilu Franco, Martha Alicia Rivas Maravilla, Maya Christina Smith Gonzalez,  Nancy Uyenura, Nikki Garcia Poling, Noemí Castañeda, Ofelia Esparza, Patricia Cruz, Patssi Valdez, Poli Marichal, Rachel Zepeda, Rebeca Guerrero, Rissa Martinez, Rocio Villanueva, Rosa Estremera, Rosa M. Huerta-Williams, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, Rosie Garcia, Rosita González, Sandra Carmona, Sandy Garcia, Shizu Saldamando, Sonia Romero, Stacy Soriano, Stephanie Mercado, Susie Chavez, Tina Arroyos, Victoria Delgadillo, Yolanda Gonzalez, Yolanda Lopez, Yreina D. Cervántez, Yvette Trujillo, Zaret Guadalupe Proa, and more.

I’d love for you to join me for a belated birthday celebration and the opening of my solo exhibition, “The Future is Bright,” at understory on May 31st. The festivities will run from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.The address is 3340 International Blvd. It is very close to Fruitvale BART.

There will be a cash bar and light refreshments available. Additionally, understory will have a special menu if you’d like to order and enjoy a delicious meal.

It would mean a lot if you could come and support me by seeing my new work and perhaps even acquiring some art as I embark on this exciting new chapter. There will be music and good vibes so come dance with me and share a moment of joy.

The exhibit will run through the end of July.