"Passage" by Alex Salaverria, Quad City Arts' marketing and design director.
Quad City Arts has curated a new exhibit that celebrates the decades long burgeoning Hispanic culture here in the Quad Cities. A colorful and pulsating exhibit of 30-plus pieces – Voces y Visiones: A Celebration of Hispanic Art – is on view at Quad City Arts’ Rock Island Gallery (1715 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL) through December 5. This juried exhibition is presented in partnership with Mercado on Fifth, and Hispanic/Latin/Latinx artists were especially encouraged to apply.
Eighteen artists within a 250-mile radius, not limited to Hispanic artists, but any who celebrate Hispanic and Latino culture, were picked to show, with some displaying more than one piece and many works available for sale, said QC Arts' executive director, Brian Allen. Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, visual arts director, added that this is the first time the gallery has hosted this kind of exhibit, which has been a long time coming.
The visual arts committee held a blind selection process, choosing each work without an artist name attached. “Selecting a single work out of all these incredible pieces was a daunting task,” said Dr. Manisha Virdi, a local dentist on the committee, who helped choose the exhibiting artists and award winners for the October 10 opening reception.
“I could argue in favor of each one!” she said. “Some pieces addressed the history of these varied cultures. Some described the artist's personal family experiences. Some referenced the current social structures impacting Hispanic and Latinx Americans. I couldn't decide which avenue impacted me the most.”
Speaking with Alex Salaverria, she recommended choosing a work for each category and then assessing from there. “Voces y Visiones,” she said, “is a show that highlights the vibrancy, creativity, and diverse perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx art, and every piece displayed hits that mark.”
The exhibit features two paintings by Alejandra (Alex) Salaverria, Quad City Arts’ marketing and design director, and three mixed-media pieces by Kelly Lao, a Metro Arts alum whose family is from Puerto Rico, and who serves as vice-president of museum experiences at Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center. Lao’s daughter Lola Borders, a Davenport Central High School grad who’s now studying art at University of Illinois-Chicago, is also featured in the exhibit.
“As a Latina artist,” says Lao in her artist statement, “my work is deeply rooted in intersections of identity, heritage and the spaces between cultures that define who I am. I draw inspiration from the complexities of my Puerto Rican roots, where the lush, vibrant jungles of the island, the warmth of family, and the vibrancy of New York’s urban landscape collide in my mind’s eye. I weave these elements together through a process that is both personal and collective, using the familiar tactile materials of home to reflect on the stories of survival, love and memory that shape my life.”
There are artists in the Quad City Arts exhibit who’ve also had their work shown at the nonprofit’s High School Art Invitational. “To see them continuing is great,” Wohlford-Metallo said, “even though it may not be a full-time career.
“I like the family connections in the show,” she said, noting Kelly and Lola. “There’s a mother and son; there’s two sisters. I just think that’s cool – the importance of family.”
Virdi has an art background, as well. Quad City Arts gave the exhibit’s Best in Show citation to Iowa City artist Miriam Alarcon Avila, a Mexican photographer and visual artist whose stated mission is to build a more sustainable and inclusive world. Her website states Avila, “is a Mexican-born, Iowa-based photographer, multimedia and visual storyteller artist, whose art explores identity, belonging, memory, and cultural resilience.”
Avila had an exhibit at the German American Heritage Center in the summer of 2023, when Brian Allen was that venue's director. We Are All Immigrant Warriors was a collaboration between the GAHC and Miriam Alarcón Avila and her project Immigrant Luchadores. That Davenport exhibit, which consisted mainly of colorful masks and photos, explored connections between immigrants of German origin and Latino immigrants who have moved throughout the American continent and have established themselves as immigrants in the U.S.
Avila herself specializes in documentary black-and-white photos.
“One of the reasons a show like this is so important is it’s not just political,” Allen said of the Quad City Arts exhibit. “We’re showing how art can be that connective tissue and how people can spend a Friday evening talking to one another, talking about cultures being represented. We feel like it’s really important to have an exhibition like this.”
Three unique photos on canvas, blending photography and painting, are by artist Juliana Berrios Arroyo, while a unique piece behind a black curtain, featuring neon-colored animal sculptures under black light, is by Chicago-based artist Emanuel Zarate. He strives to reduce waste by using repurposed materials or storm-collected debris to create his sculptures, focusing on animals that are threatened or endangered.
“In the face of policies and rhetoric that seek to diminish us, we rise, holding onto our pride and the legacy of those who came before us,” Avila wrote in her artist statement for the exhibit, which incorporates red ink paint into her photos. “Their blood spilled in resistance and survival has given life to new generations on this land.”
In one, a young Charro skillfully handles his lasso as he jumps over his rope, mastering it to perfection and demonstrating pride in his Mexican charro culture. Another has red paint splattered over a June 2024 photo at the Iowa State Capitol, in Des Moines, during a protest over bills considered by state lawmakers.
“The red symbolizes both the blood of our ancestors and the bleeding caused by political speeches that promote hatred and discrimination,” Avila wrote, “harming not just immigrants and refugees but entire communities.”
“This project is my expression of hope,” she continued, “a message that we are not defined by the hatred directed toward us. Instead, we are shaped by the resilience, strength, and love passed down through generations.”
For more information on the Voces y Visiones: A Celebration of Hispanic Art on display through December 5, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com.
