18th Street Arts Center, Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School Present

Universal Histories: Santa Monica students respond to PST: LA/LA

Reception: Wednesday, Dec. 6 // 4-6 p.m.

Exhibition: Nov. 27-Dec. 15

18th Street Art Center Atrium Gallery and Sam Francis Gallery at Crossroads School

Universal Histories is a collection of Santa Monica student responses to works in A Universal History of Infamy: Virtues of Disparity, a LACMA-curated PST: LA/LA exhibition at 18th Street Arts Center. Students from three local schools—Santa Monica High School, John Adams Middle School and Crossroads School—have developed artworks around themes of identity, migration and censorship.

Many of the works use the codex form to represent their personal histories in dialogue with the works of artists Mariana Castillo Deball, Gala Porras Kim and Carolina Caycedo. Other works appropriate a censored artwork and reimagine it, as Venezuelan artist Angela Bonadies did with “Rompecabezas Street Meeting 1932-2016,” from the Series “David Alfaro Siqueiros, Street Meeting, LA, 1932,” 2017.

Students visited 18th Street with Program Coordinator Betty Marín to learn about the works in the exhibition and develop their own. They also visited the LACMA installments of A Universal History of Infamy.

Crossroads Studio Art students, taught by Vincent Ramos—who has works in LACMA’s PST: LA/LA exhibition—will be sending handmade postcards to 18th Street addressed to “the future,” reflecting on the state of our country today and how they see themselves within it.

Students from John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School participated in eight workshops with 18th Street Program Coordinator Betty Marín and local artist Paulina Sahagun to learn about the works in the exhibition and develop their own.

John Adams Middle School teacher Jennifer Joyce remarked on the breadth of authentic art experiences her students participated in: “Students had the great pleasure of visiting professional art galleries, meeting living artists with work on display in major metropolitan museums, and being guided through the process of responding to artwork and creating their own with visiting artists in our art room.”

Santa Monica High School AP Art Teacher Amy Bouse likewise valued the close partnership with 18th Street Arts Center: “Our collaboration with 18th Street brought the PST: LA/LA initiative and a powerful local art institution into our classroom. The process of learning from other artists, understanding cultural contexts and responding with their own creative work asked AP Art students valuable artistic and academic questions. We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the local art community.”

Works by John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School students will be exhibited in the 18th Street Atrium Gallery between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Works by Crossroads students will be exhibited at Crossroads’ Sam Francis Gallery and the 18th Street Atrium Gallery. Opening receptions at both sites will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6. At 5 p.m., visitors at each venue will be led to the other site on a short walking tour through the neighborhood.

A Universal History of Infamy was curated by LACMA and presented in collaboration with 18th Street Arts Center, and is part of the Getty-led PST: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles, taking place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

18th Street Arts Center (across from Crossroads’ Norton Campus)

Atrium Gallery (Blue building)

1639 18th St.

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Hours: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

communications@18thstreet.org

pstlala-lacma.18thstreet.org/

About 18th Street Arts Center

18th Street Arts Center is one of the top 20 artist residency programs in the US, and the largest in Southern California. Conceived as a radical think tank in the shape of an artist community, 18th Street supports artists from around the globe to imagine, research, and develop significant, meaningful new artworks and share them with the public. We strive to provide artists the space and time to take risks, to foster the ideal environment for artists and the public to directly engage, and to create experiences and partnerships that foster positive social change.