Exhibit: Nosotras: Portraits of Latinas

Nosotras: Portraits of Latinas opens on Friday, May 16th at the Branigan Cultural Center. This traveling exhibition presents positive images of Latina girls and women that both counteract and supplement the stereotypes provided by mainstream American media.

The exhibit was organized by Virginia Dodier who is a photography historian, curator, and director of the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center in New Mexico. Dodier, a Mexican-American born on the border and raised in middle America, like many other Hispanic women and girls, experienced the feeling of living in two worlds. She organized Nosotras: Portraits of Latinas to present positive images of women’s lives lived “between here and the homeland.”

Nosotras (Spanish for the feminine “us” or “we”) features 50 photographs, both black-and-white and color, from eight emerging photographers documenting the lives and culture of Latinas, most first- or second-generation immigrants to the United States. These striking images convey dignity and strength in the faces, families, and traditions of multiple generations.

Diverse personal, familial, and cultural influences resonate through each photographer’s images. Scott Nava summarizes the exhibition’s powerful impact and universal appeal with a poignant recollection from his childhood: “As a boy ... I lived in a world that was part Mexican and part American,” says Nava. “The smell of tamales on the stovetop dominated the house, but we would be called to dinner in English. I was a part of both worlds, but not a member of either, and so I couldn’t— and now cannot—ignore the differences. Memories from two cultures shape who I am today.”

The Branigan Cultural Center has extended regular visiting hours to 7:00 pm on Friday, May 16th, opening day of the exhibit. The exhibit will remain on display through Saturday, June 21, 2008.

The Cultural Center, 501 N. Main, is located at the north end of the downtown mall. Parking is available at intersection of Water and Hadley streets. There is no charge and galleries are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information contact the Branigan Cultural Center at (575) 541-2154 or visit the Center’s web site at http://museums.las-cruces.org.