SaveArtSpace and New Mexico artist Jodie Herrera present public art exhibition ‘Soul of a Nation’. Courtesy/SAS
ART News:
SaveArtSpace (SAS) presents ‘Soul of a Nation’, a public art exhibition curated by New Mexico artist Jodie Herrera in Albuquerque, starting Oct. 24.
This open call invites creatives to apply for Soul of a Nation, a billboard exhibition exploring social justice issues that center BIPOC Womxn, transgender and non-binary peoples and fight for equity, justice, and liberation. This can include, but is not limited to, reproductive justice, LGBTQIA+ issues, the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous womxn, representation, ratifying the ERA, rematriation, womxn’s empowerment and so on.
Ultimately Herrera aims to connect and uplift marginalized people, like herself, while providing a platform for important issues around social justice and intersectional feminism and hopes her work can be a catalyst for positive change.
SaveArtSpace invites artists of all ages and talents to submit their artwork between July 15 and Sept. 6. This is an opportunity to have artwork placed on ad spaces in Albuquerque.
The open call for art ends Sept. 6. There is a $10 donation per image submission to participate, each donation is tax deductible and goes to producing the public art. Each artist is encouraged to submit up to 10 images. Selected artists will be announced Sept. 26. Public art will be installed the week of Oct. 24 in Albuquerque.
Artists can submit works here
SaveArtSpace and New Mexico artist Jodie Herrera have announced an open call for artists to take part in the public art exhibition ‘Soul of a Nation’. Courtesy/SAS
About Jodie Herrera
Herrera was born and raised in New Mexico and has identified and worked as an artist her whole life. She received formal training at the University of New Mexico where she graduated with a BFA Honors and a focus in painting in 2013. She currently resides in Taos, where she works as a full time Photo Realism Oil Painter, Muralist, Illustrator, Mixed-Media Artist and Curator.
She works locally on her main project, where she creates semi-photorealistic oil paintings portraying women that have persevered through trauma. Herrera takes great care with each story, building personal and supportive relationships with each of her participants. She uses symbolism from their culture and personal interests to visually narrate the painting and accompanies each piece with a write up that explains it in detail. She strives to celebrate the beauty and resilience of these women and hopes that they can provide inspiration for others.
Women Across Borders, is an International Arts and Activism project. She specifically works with refugee and immigrant women and creates paintings that illustrate their personal journeys. She provides monetary and emotional support for all her participants and hopes to bring attention to the issues they face and have overcome, as well as to educate and activate others around the subject.
Her Murals are meant to reflect the culture, history or mission of the space in which they inhabit. They are also meant to create awareness around certain people of impact or social justice issues that are relevant to space and the time it’s created in.
Herrera was awarded “Best Visual Artist of 2017, 2018 and 2019 by Albuquerque The Magazine, and her art has been featured in such settings as Art Archives of America in the Smithsonian Washington DC, The American Art Collector Magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, In seven Museums including the Denver History Museum-Denver CO, in numerous distinguished galleries including Stone Sparrow Gallery in New York, Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles, Gallery Fritz in Santa Fe NM, among many others.
About SaveArtSpace
Founded in 2015 by Travis Rix and Justin Aversano, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a progressive message of social change. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists. Since 2015, SaveArtSpace has installed the artwork of over 500 artists on 900+ advertising spaces in 35+ US cities, coast-to-coast and London, UK.