The following is a submission from SMC.
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Art Department, in collaboration with the 18th Street Arts Center (18SAC), is pleased to present “Calls from Home,” a free exhibition curated and mounted by students in SMC’s Art 80/82/84 Gallery Exhibitions & Display course taught by SMC art instructor Kim Garcia. The exhibition will be on view April 6 through April 30, 2026.
A free gallery reception will be held Friday, April 24, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Atrium at the 18th Street Arts Center, located at 1639 18th St., Santa Monica. The event will begin with a film premiere showcasing a series of interviews with the exhibiting artists, and offering a deeper look into their creative processes. A panel discussion with the student curators, graphics team, and outreach specialists follows the screening. Attendees will then have the opportunity to explore the exhibit installation and “have a fun opportunity to contribute to a communal art piece,” said Garcia. “This is a family-friendly event, and all are welcome to join us in celebration!”
The exhibition, developed through close collaboration with the staff and artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, features artwork by Luciana Abait, Jeff Beall, Takashi Horisaki, Dan Kwong, Momo Nagano, Rivka Nehorai, Ara Oshagan, and Carol Zou.
“Calls from Home” understands and presents ‘home’ as a living and fluid condition. Whether the featured artists explore displacement by state violence, gentrification, appropriation, or environmental disaster, movement is a common thread that weaves together each work. The artists, who currently call Los Angeles home, explore themes of cultural memory, negotiating identity, reclaiming space, and building community. How to respond to feeling out of place? What to bring to it? What to leave behind? How to create internal and community sanctuary when life is unstable?
SMC’s Art 80, 82, & 84 Gallery Exhibition & Display is a specialty course that includes actual hands-on experience in exhibition planning, research, operation, and management of exhibition spaces. The course, said Garcia, “aims to demystify the art world and highlight how arts professionals often wear multiple hats.”
The 18th Street Arts Center was founded in 1988 as a nonprofit artist residency in Santa Monica to support artists from around the world as they research, experiment, and develop new work that engages communities and fosters cultural dialogue.
More information about “Calls from Home” and exhibition-related activities is available at 18thstreet.org or by calling 310-453-3711.
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