The Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition Favianna Rodriguez: Power From The Roots opening January 9 and running through March 9, 2024.

Favianna Rodriguez is an Oakland based activist and artist beloved for her work tied to social justice movements, such as her iconic image of a butterfly with the text “Migration is Beautiful” mobilized in support of migrant justice. In recent years, Rodriguez has focused on figurative work related to plants, animals and climate justice. This exhibition asks: how do portraits of species relate to an ecology of social movements? The show is organized around local species impacted by climate change including coastal redwoods, mountain lions, coho salmon and butterflies, among others. These portraits of species are in dialogue with activist posters, demonstrating how social issues are fundamentally intertwined with environmental justice. For example, a collaged portrait of coho salmon, a keystone species that the Ohlone people relied on for food, will be surrounded by posters about decolonization and food justice. Viewers will explore activism from the roots- both in terms of systemic issues impacting our world today and the actual roots of the trees that inhabit our shared local ecosystem.

Join us for a talk with the artist on February 7th at Stevenson Event Center.

Presented by Cowell College. Co-Sponsored by the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, the UC Santa Cruz Institute of Arts and Sciences, The Humanities Institute, and UCSC HSI Initiatives.