Featured Exhibit and Events
Cartographies of Loss: Parallel Cities
Monica Arreola and Jackie Castillo
Exhibit on view March 23 – April 25, 2026
Reception: Wednesday, March 25 , 4 – 7 pm
Artist Talk w/ Jackie Castillo and Reception: Saturday, April 25, 4 – 7 pm
Talk will start at 4:30 pm.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Free Parking during receptions in Lot # 1. Park in STAFF spaces ONLY
Gallery Hours: Monday through Thursday, 12 – 5 pm, or by appointment.
Closed Fridays, weekends and on Monday, February 16, 2026.
The photo-based and sculptural works in the exhibition Cartographies of Loss: Parallel Cities, examine the history of urban development in Southern California. Working in Los Angeles, Jackie Castillo investigates the relationships between city infrastructure, collective memory and the isolation and anxiety felt by the working class. She documents architectural remnants that reveal the ways that place, labor, memories, and identity become fractured over time. Mónica Arreola approaches similar concerns from the perspective of her hometown, Tijuana. Trained as an architect, she photographs urban developments abandoned mid-construction, revealing the effects of the 2008 United States housing market crash and the financial crisis that reverberated across the border. We invite you to view this exhibition and join us for a reception on Wednesday, March 25, 4 – 7 pm. Meet the artists and enjoy refreshments. There will be a talk with artist Jackie Castillo on Saturday, April 25 at 4:30 pm.
Southern California’s urban landscape is constantly in flux with neighborhoods experiencing gentrification or loss due to the build-out of infrastructure. Jackie Castillo reflects on the physical transformation of Los Angeles, on the lack of affordable housing, and the effects it has on its communities. In her sculpture, Turning No°3, a picture of ruined domestic tracts is transferred onto a mound of concrete wall caps. The low-to-the-ground structure resembles at once, building debris, a modernist roofline, or a foundation.
Raised in Santa Ana, California, to parents who immigrated from Guadalajara, Castillo’s research has largely focused on the history of land development in Southern California since the late 19th century and its vast, yet violent relationship with the cultural and material landscapes that have existed in this region for hundreds of years. The artist’s physical act of assembling the modular structure emphasizes the labor involved in creating the buildings we inhabit. Jackie Castillo explains: “The lack of mortar and the gesture of stacking, challenges the viewer to reimagine a structure that could be. Turning is a clarion call to the need for housing through its lack.” Additional mounted photographs document rebar towers or “castillos” made by her grandfather on his roof and a facade of a Los Angeles apartment adorned with decorative wrought-iron fencing and a pillar made from rebar suggesting a building in progress.
The photographs, video and artist book by Mónica Arreola featured in the exhibit are inspired by documentation of the Valle San Pedro, a district in Tijuana. While working for the government, Arreola developed a database on Tijuana housing, and between 2018 and 2020 she photographed developments abandoned mid-construction —ruins in the making. She was interested in categorizing and generating a building typology rather than in aestheticizing these sites. The works became an archive of an economic collapse that transcended borders. “The landscape of Tijuana,” Arreola has explained, “is always changing and changing quickly. These photographs are documents of a specific period, something that has passed, like the contents of a family photo album or a personal archive.”
Exploring other ways of capturing history, Arreola has also created a musical instrument out of wood and copper that the artist uses to generate sound in order to activate a process of remembering. The form evokes the structural pillars used in construction. The sound has been collected from commercials and newscasts. The distorted audios, voices and melodies are a way to both record but also question the way that narratives are created, remembered but also distorted.
Mónica Arreola holds a Master’s in Modern and Contemporary Art and a degree in curatorial studies at Casa Lamm Center for Culture. She is co-director of 206 Arte Contemporáneo. She was a member of the National System of Art Creators (2022–2025). She was included in Future Holds Something for Us by Latinismo (Latin American Art) in New York, USA (2025), and the National Experimental Video Contest in Mexico (2024). She participated in the Border Biennial (2024) and GUT_BRAIN 1: Destructive Desires and Other Destinies of Excess, University of Toronto Mississauga (2023). Her work was in the Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept and Rivers and Mountains at Oolong Gallery (2022). She has received multiple grants and awards. Her work is in collections of Centro Cultural Tijuana, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Elías + Fontes Collection, Fundación Colección Kunsthaus AC, and the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum at Miami University, among others.
Jackie Castillo is a Los-Angeles based artist and educator. Her work has been recently exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2005), Various Small Fires, Los Angeles (2024); As-is Gallery, Los Angeles (2024); California Museum, Sacramento (2023); Long Beach Museum of Art (2023); The Mistake Room, Los Angeles (2023); UCLA Broad Art Center, Los Angeles (2022); Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles (2022); Mexican Center for Culture and Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Park View/Paul Soto Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); and the Material Art Fair in Mexico City, MX (2022). In 2023, Castillo’s work was acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She was also awarded the 2021 Individual Artist Fellowship by the California Arts Council.
Future Exhibits
Past Exhibits
Unless otherwise noted, all exhibits are curated by Alessandra Moctezuma, Gallery Director and Museum Studies Professor. Available details are listed on this page or via the Mesa College Art Gallery Facebook Events page.
2023chevron_right
Student Art Exhibit
May 1-18, 2023
Reception: Thursday, May 4th, 4 – 7 p.m.
Perceive Me
March 13 - April 13, 2023
Reception: Wednesday, November 2nd, 4 – 7 p.m.
Africa in Context
San Diego Mesa College World Art Permanent Collection
Curated by Dr. Denise Rogers
January 30 - February 23, 2023
Reception: Thursday, February 9th, 4 – 7 p.m.
2022chevron_right
Pride and Protest
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
November 2 – 17, 2022
Reception: Wednesday, November 2nd, 4 – 7 p.m.
Pride and Protest virtual gallery
In Lak'Ech: Tu eres mi otro yo
Maria de Los Angeles and Ryan Bonilla
September 26 - October 13, 2022
Reception: Wednesday, September 28th, 4-7 p.m.
The Weight of Color, The Shape of Light
Christian Garcia-Olivo, Kaori Fukuyama, Melissa Walter
August 22 - September 8, 2022
Reception: Thursday, August 25, 4-7p.m.
Try on a New Perspective
Mesa Student Art Exhibition
Spring 2022 Student Art Exhibition Website
Connecting the Dots
Presented by SDCCD Faculty and Staff from Mesa, City, and Miramar colleges; along with Continuing Education and the District Office.
With Guest Juror Wendy Wilson-Gibson
April 26 – May 26, 2022
Reception: Thursday, May 5th, 4 – 7 p.m.
Connecting the Dots Virtual Gallery
Militarized Desert: Life and Death in the Mojave
Ben Allanoff and Anna Stump’s two-person exhibition delves into the contradictions of the Mojave desert, a militarized training ground but also a place notable for incredibly tenacious forms of life.
Spring 2022
2021chevron_right
Student Art Exhibition
Fall 2021
Fall 2021 Virtual Student Art Exhibition Website
Sowing Seeds of Universal Language
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
November 9 – December 15, 2021
Reception: Friday, November 12th, 3 – 7 p.m.
Sowing Seeds of Universal Language website
Sowing Seeds of Universal Language Virtual Gallery
Ludicrous Tales: A Topsy Turvy Quartet
Paintings by Gloria Muriel, sculptures by Aida Valencia and a collaborative ceramic installation by Beliz Iristay and Irene de Watteville.
Fall 2021
Inject Yourself with a Fresh Dose of Art
Virtual Student Art Exhibition
Spring 2021
Heavy Duty: Steamroller Printmaking Exhibition Drive-thru Reception
May 7 – June 4, 2021
Drive-Thru Reception: Friday, May 7th
2020chevron_right
Student Art Exhibition
Fall 2020
Fall 2020 Virtual Student Art Exhibition Website
Mesa Drive-In: An Outdoor Art Exhibition
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
Mesa Drive-In: An Outdoor Art Exhibition website
Student Art Exhibition
Spring 2020
Spring 2020 Virtual Student Art Exhibition Website
Forced Exodus: Coded Messages from the Underground Railroad
By Joe Lewis
February 3 – 27, 2020
2019chevron_right
Fall 2019 Student Pop Up Art Exhibition
December 3-6, 2019
Reception: Thursday, December 5th
In-Part: Interact and Participate with Art
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class with Guest Juror Michelle Montjoy
October 29 - November 19, 2019
Reception: Thursday, November 7th
Brightest Beacons, Blindest Eyes
John Brinton Hogan
September 24 - October 17, 2019
Reception: Thursday, September 26th
Chromatic: Grounding with Color
April Rose and Katie Ruiz
August 19 - September 11, 2019
Reception: Thursday, August 29th
Spring 2019 Student Art Exhibition
May 9 - 21, 2019
Reception: Thursday, May 9th
Subterranean
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
April 10 - 25, 2019
Reception: Thursday, April 11th
Artivismo Loko
Mario Torero
February 27 - March 21, 2019
Reception: Thursday, March 7th
Looking Forward, Looking Back
Alumni Exhibition
January 28 - February 13, 2019
Reception: Thursday, February 7th
2018chevron_right
Fall 2018 Student Art Exhibition
November 29 - December 11, 2018
Reception: Thursday, November 29th
Fall 2018 Faculty Exhibition
October 8 - Novemeber 7, 2018
Reception: Thursday, October 11th
Scarred For Life: Every Scar Tells A Story
By Ted Meyer
August 27 - September 20, 2018
Reception: Thursday, September 6th
Spring 2018 Student Art Exhibition
May 9 - 21, 2018
Reception: Thursday, May 9th
Art that Cuts
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
April 12 - 20, 2018
Reception: Thursday, April 12th
Remember the Trees: Southern California’s Changing Ecology
Ruth Wallen
March 12 – April 3, 2018
Reception: Thursday, March 15th
By(e) Default
Guest Curator: Andrea Chung
February 5 - 28, 2018
Reception: Thursday, February 15th
2017chevron_right
Student Art Exhibition
Fall 2017
November 29 - December 11, 2017
Reception: Thursday, November 29th
7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back
By V. Kim Martinez
October 12 - Novemeber 2, 2017
Reception: Thursday, October 12th
Endangered: Exploring California’s Changing Ecosystems
Guest Curator: Danielle Susalla Deery
September 5 - 28, 2017
Reception: Thursday, September 7th
Haven
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
May 13 – 20, 2017
Reception: Saturday, May 13th
Spring 2017 Student Art Exhibition
May 9 - 21, 2017
Reception: Thursday, May 9th
FOBIA: A participatory Project
By Shinpei Takeda
April 6 - 13, 2017
Reception: Thursday, April 6th
Impressions: African American Artists and their connection to African Art
Co-curated by: Alessandra Moctezuma and Denise Rogers, Ph.D.
February 9 - March 1, 2017
Reception: Thursday, March 9th
Featuring Artists: Andrea Chung, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and Robert Pruitt and artifacts from the San Diego Mesa College African Art Collection
2016chevron_right
Fall 2016 Student Art Exhibition
December 1 - 13, 2016
Reception: Thursday, December 1st
Why We Collect: the 20th Century…
An art history survey with original works
Guest Curator: Kraig Cavanaugh
October 13 - Novemeber 8, 2016
Reception: Thursday, October 13th
Fall 2016 Faculty Exhibition
September 8 - 29, 2016
Reception: Thursday, September 8th
Spring 2016 Student Art Exhibition
April 28 - May 10, 2016
Reception: Thursday, April 28th
Bifocal: Bridging Prespectives
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
April 9 – 28, 2016
Reception: Saturday, April 9th
New Codex Oaxaca: Immigration and Cultural Memory
Guest Curator: Marietta Bernstorff
March 15 – April 13, 2016
Reception: Thursday, March 17th with invited San Diego artists Claudia Cano and Omar Pimienta
Chor Boogie
The Ultimate Sacrifice
February 11 - March 2, 2016
Reception: Thursday, March 11th
2015chevron_right
Fall 2015 Student Art Exhibit
November 19 - December 9, 2015
Reception: Thursday, November 19th
A Moveable Feast
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
November 6 – 8, 2015
Reception: Thursday, November 5th
Transpoiesis
By Jose Hugo Sanchez
October 13 - November 4, 2015
Reception: Thursday October 15th
Macro Views, Micro Wonders
By Cathy Breslaw
September 8 – 30, 2015
Reception: Thursday, September 10th
Spring 2015 Student Art Exhibit
April 30 – May 14, 2015
Reception: Thursday, April 30th
Untold Narratives
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
April 10 – May 14, 2015
Reception: Wednesday, April 29th
The Other Side of Birth
By Helen Redman
March 10 - April 14, 2015
Reception: Thursday, March 12th
Reshaping the 2%: Contemporary Ceramics
Guest Curator: Nathan Betschart
February 2 – 26, 2015
Reception: Thursday, February 12th
2014chevron_right
Fall 2014 Student Art Exhibit
November 20 – December 1, 2014
Reception: Thursday, November 20th
Connective Surge
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
November 6 – 9, 2014
Reception: Thursday, November 6th
Encoded Histories
By Doris Bittar and Qais Al-Sindy
October 13 - November 16, 2014
Reception: Thursday, October 24th
Fall 2014 Faculty Exhibition
September 2- 25, 2014
Reception: Thursday, September 4th
Spring 2014 Student Art Exhibit
May 1 – 15, 2014
Reception: Thursday, May 1st
Metaloci: Points of Transformation
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
Spring 2014
Reception: Wednesday, April 30th
"Stories On My Back" and "I CON"
By Richard A. Lou and James Luna, respectively
March 17 - April 16, 2014
Reception: Thursday, March 20th
LURE: all is not what it seems
Guest Curator: Susan Myrland
February 3 – 27, 2014
Reception: Thursday, February 6th
2013chevron_right
San Diego Mesa College Fall 2013 Student Art Exhibit
November 21 - December 10, 2013
Reception: Thursday, November 21st
Acerca de la Cerca
By Carmela Castrejon, Maria Teresa Fernandez, and Paul Turounet
October 10 - November 6, 2013
Reception: Thursday, October 10th
POKE: A series of Provocations
By Debby and Larry Kline
August 26 - September 26, 2013
Reception: Thursday, September 5th
Altered Horizons
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
Reception: Saturday, May 11th
San Diego Mesa College Spring 2013 Student Art Exhibit
May 2 - 16, 2013
Reception: Thursday, May 2nd
"GIFT" Women as Givers: Installation and Performance by Feminist Image Group
Guest Curator: Anna Stump
March 14 - April 18, 2013
Reception: Thursday, March 14th
Dynamic Gestures
By Larry Caveney, Silfredo La O, and Chris Warr
February 7 - 28, 2013
Reception: Thursday, February 7th
2012chevron_right
San Diego Mesa College Fall 2012 Student Art Exhibit
November 29 - December 12, 2012
Reception: Thursday, November 29th
Organic Colonies
Presented by Mesa College Museum Studies Class
Reception: Saturday, November 10th
agitPop: Protest Becomes Graphic
October 11 - November 6, 2012
Reception: Thursday, October 11th
Seven Deadly Sins
Guest Curator: Beate Berman-enn
September 6 - October 1, 2012
Reception: Thursday, September 6th
San Diego Mesa College Spring 2012 Student Art Exhibit: Express Yourself!
May 3 – 15, 2012
Reception: Thursday, May 3rd
Domestic Disobedience: Redefining the Feminine Space
Guest Curator: Nuvia Crisol Guerra
March 15 - April 19, 2012
Reception: Thursday, March 15th
Layering Time and Place: An African Memoir
By Atara Baker
February 9 - March 1, 2012
Reception: Thursday, February 9th
2011chevron_right
San Diego Mesa College Fall 2011 Student Art Exhibit
December 1 - 13, 2011
Reception: Thursday, December 1st
Faculty Plus One
Art faculty invite guests to exhibit artwork alongside their own.
October 13 - November 9, 2011
Reception: Thursday, October 13th
Disappearing Landscapes: The American Delta in Distress
By Monique Verdin and Anthony Fontenot
September 6 - 29, 2011
Reception: Thursday, September 22nd
San Diego Mesa College Spring 2011 Student Art Exhibit: Raw and Exposed
May 5 – 19, 2011
Reception: Thursday, May 5th
Above Us Only Sky
By Becky Guttin
March 10 - April 13, 2011
Reception: Thursday, March 10th
Parody and Plunder
By Armando Romero
Guest Curator: Danielle Susalla Deery
February 1 – 28, 2011
Reception: Thursday, February 10th
2010chevron_right
San Diego Mesa College Fall 2010 Student Art Exhibit
November 2010
Unearned Intimacies
By David Fobes, Michele Iversen, K.V. Tomney
Guest Curator: Barbara Sexton
October 14 - November 9, 2010
Reception:
Industrial
By Nicolas Gadbois
Guest Curator: Beate Berman-enn
September 9 - 30, 2010
Now We Can't Forget
By Judith and James Christensen
Faculty Exhibition 2010
2009chevron_right
Echoes in the Ice
by Rik van Glintenkamp
Shadows and Light in the Niger Delta
By Ed Kashi
January 29 - March 3, 2009
2008chevron_right
Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment
BY Malaquias Montoya
October 9 - November 6, 2008
enTangoed Memories
By Alfredo Antognini
September 2 - 30, 2008
A visual journey from the streets of Buenos Aires to the beaches of La Jolla.
2007chevron_right
Student Exhibition - Art Corridor, second floor of the LRC
Menagerie
Featured Artists: Gloria Torres, Kathi McCord, Artemio Rodrigues, Brent Wear, and Angela Miles.
2006chevron_right
Memories From the Rolling Hills of Old San Diego
By Gloria Torres
Fleeting Moments
By Jeffrey Clark
Assembly of the Wondrous Head
By Gail Schneider
2005chevron_right
La Nueva Grafica
By Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza from Taller Tupac Amaru
XXXL (Extreme Extra Extra Large)
By Michael Barton Miller
Borders of intimacy
By Patricia Frischer and Cheryl Tall
Faculty Exhibition 2005
2004chevron_right
Stand and Deliver: Engineering Sculpture into a Book Format
Southern California: A Cinemuralby
By Louis Hock
The Multiplication of Bread
By Marcos Ramirez ERRE
2003chevron_right
Iro: Color
By Kaoru Mansour
Under the Skin of Grace & Cheryl Tall: Twins
By Suda House
Blue: An Invitational Ceramics Exhibit
The Rainbow, Quasar, Roller Coaster Divide
By Michael Jones McKean
In the Spirit of Tina Modotti
By Vincent Vigil
2002chevron_right
Faculty Exhibition 2002
Reconstituting the Vanished
By Lynda Frese
The Adoration of the Magi
By Ruben Ortiz Torres
Site/Unseen
By Sheila Pinkel
2001chevron_right
Destination Solitude
By Sharon Allicotti
Himself Beheld
By Maryann Luera
Quilts, Prints and Story Books
By Faith Ringgold
About the Gallery
The Mesa College Art Gallery is an educational forum to present the work of professional artists in a range of media and dealing with diverse issues. During the academic year, four exhibits feature art by emerging and established contemporary artists.
Learn More About the Mesa College Art Gallery
