Scottsdale Public Art's 'Modern Latina' Explores Intersection of Culture, Family, Art

Scottsdale Public Art will showcase artworks that celebrate the resilience and creativity of Arizona Latina artists in "Modern Latina: Cultura, Familia y Arte" from Oct. 11 through Dec. 31, 2022, at Scottsdale Civic Center Library.

Reflected through contemporary eyes, the artists of "Modern Latina" show the importance of these cultural and familial treasures through their creative works. This exhibition also demonstrates how making art is therapeutic and celebratory. The artworks featured reveal the Latina life experience, showing how the personal is also universal. "Modern Latina" asserts that the power and voice of women is long-lasting and far-reaching throughout time.

Wendy Raisanen, curator of collections and exhibitions for Scottsdale Public Art, is proud to show this group of Latina women artists.

"They are all at different stages of their artistic careers and all passionate artists who know the power of art to celebrate their lives and traditions," Raisanen said. "Their artworks express how their relationships with their family, friends and culture have been affected and reinforced because of the unusual times we are experiencing during these last couple years."

The identities of these artists are illuminated through their cultural and familial ties - all embodied in the celebration of traditions and ancestral legacies. Here, the term "family" may refer to those who have nurtured them, those they have loved or those who have already passed on.

Self-taught painter, printmaker and mixed media artist Emily Costello's art is strongly influenced by her grandmother.

"My grandmother always encouraged me to create, and of the stories she passed on to me, the stories that give meaning to the experiences that we all share - issues of humor, life, love, death, spirituality, dreams and memories - were the ones I gravitated towards the most," Costello said. "My pieces in the 'Modern Latina' exhibition represent memories of the past, present and future of my family's cultural heritage and identity."

In addition to the exhibition itself, there will be an opening reception from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 14 at the Civic Center Public Gallery inside Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251.

For more information about the exhibition, visit ScottsdalePublicArt.org/exhibitions.