Visitors to City Hall can now experience a new art exhibit exploring water as a source of memory, creativity and connection in Sacramento.
Curated by the City’s Emerging Curator Fellow Lorena Rodríguez, the exhibit “Liquid Memories: An Ode to the Waters of Sacramento” is on display in the Robert T. Matsui Gallery (915 I Street) through Sept. 24.
The exhibit brings together seven Sacramento area artists whose work explores personal and collective connections to rivers, lakes and waterways throughout the region. Through textiles, ceramics, illustration, mixed media and other visual art forms, the exhibit examines water as both a natural resource and a source of memory, creativity and cultural connection.
“Water is a living memory. It carries our histories, migrations, grief, creativity and imagination across generations,” said Rodríguez. “This exhibit invites the community to experience Sacramento’s waters not only as a natural resource, but as a source of knowledge, social transformation and peacebuilding that connects us more deeply to one another and to the land we inhabit.”
Participating artists include Natachi Mez, Melanie King, Christina Conley, Lucia Horowitz, Michael Vicente, Elizabeth Davis, and Tanya Mariko Lieberman.
The curatorial process included community experiences, conversations and educational activities centered on water, including a master class exploring the “Aesthetics of Water” and a guided visit to the American River led by wildlife biologist Liz Lopez.
The exhibit also highlights a range of artistic backgrounds and lived experiences, reflecting the diversity of Sacramento’s creative community.
The exhibit is free, open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is wheelchair accessible.
About the Emerging Curators Fellowship
Administered by the Office of Arts and Culture, the Emerging Curators Fellowship is a year-long program designed for the selected curator to curate and present two exhibitions with the guidance of a curatorial mentor.
The Emerging Curator Program supports new and developing curators through mentorship and opportunities to organize public exhibitions in City spaces. This year’s curatorial mentor is artist and curator Jazel Muñoz.
This year’s fellow, Lorena Rodriguez, is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural practitioner, and peace educator whose work explores the connections between creativity, collective memory, and social transformation.
Trained in Peace Studies and Conflict Mediation in Japan, Rodriguez creates artistic and educational experiences that center collective care, environmental justice and cultural awareness. Her work spans performance, storytelling, poetry, textiles and culinary art, and is shaped by collaborations with Indigenous and folk communities across the Americas, as well as her experiences working with communities impacted by incarceration in California.
