Capital City Arts Initiative—#SueñoAmericano

Lauren Cardenas; 608; 3-colored letterpress print on Kitikata paper; 11”x14″ – 11” x 60’; 2021.

The Capital City Arts Initiative presents its exhibition, #SueñoAmericano, by Lauren Cardenas at Western Nevada College’s Bristlecone Gallery, 2201 W College Parkway, Carson City. The exhibition will be in the gallery from July 21 – September 30, 2021. The college and CCAI will host an artist’s reception on Thursday, July 22, 5 – 6:30 pm. The gallery is open to the public, M-F, 9 am – 7 pm.

Using her photographs taken from in-flight airplane windows, Lauren Cardenas has printed the images on slices of American cheese as a metaphor for the anguish suffered by those being deported. She said, “Being from Texas, the border has always been a tenuous territory. Yet, since 2016 the border situation has been pulled to the forefront of American Politics. Broadcasting the journey of Latinx refugees seeking the ‘American Dream,’ yet instead of welcoming arms, they are being met by deportment, racism, and their families severed. Many were put on ICE Airplanes and given an American cheese sandwich, one of the most processed, commercialized, and symbolically ‘American’ things in this country. In #SueñoAmericano series, images of Latinx people and their flight views are printed on slices of Kraft Singles American Cheese to question the reality of the ‘American Dream,’ and its false promises of acceptance and opportunity for all.”

This program is suuported in part by Nevada Humanites. Learn more