MinerAlert
MinerAlert
Les Sembrantes (The Sowers) is an exhibition rooted in the living memory of the Chihuahuan Desert, showcasing artistic practices that cultivate sustainable futures by honoring the land's complex systems. It presents new work by select artists from La Semilla Food Center's annual Desert Cultural Fellowship, serving as an invocation that shifts our focus from consumption to connection. Curated by Henry Alfonso Schulte and organized by the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts in collaboration with La Semilla, this project explores the art of sowing—planting not only seeds, but futures. The works presented here are extensions of land based practices, pedagogical experiments, and cultural memory, rooted in agroecology and food justice. The exhibition foregrounds storytelling as an act of survival and transformation, arguing that holistic knowledge—the wisdom of a complicated, interconnected system—is best shared through narrative and embodied practice.
As sembrantes, the four featured artists honor those who intentionally labor. They challenge extractive systems and cultivate collective sovereignty. Janette Terrazas, a visionary textile artist from Ciudad Juárez, transforms complex data on climate change and social crises into powerful woven narratives of resilience and hope. Amalia Mondragón, a queer two spirit vocalist, multi instrumentalist, and narrative strategist, infuses the exhibition with the counter culture spirit and deep heritage of the tri state borderlands. Glassmaker Juan Pablo Hernandez offers a distinct material lens on the desert's complex ecosystem. Finally, Eva Gabriella Flynn, a Chicana interdisciplinary artist, weaves historical narratives and personal experiences directly into the landscapes of the American Southwest. By showcasing artists whose practices embody this pedagogy of place, Les Sembrantes asserts that the border's edge is a fertile ground for understanding the whole. It is a living archive, a call to action, and a bold assertion: The soil will save us, if we save it. In honoring the sembrantes, we honor the possibility of a future cultivated with intention, rooted in justice, and nourished by the wisdom of land and community.