art gallery

Junior High hosts open gallery hours daily from 11 am — 5 pm.

Exhibitions are always free to attend, but donations are strongly encouraged!

Current Exhibition

DEC 6th 2024 — JAN 5th, 2025 | Welcome to SUPERNOVA III: Riso Fantasy! This exhibition showcases Riso prints created by the students of the Nova Community Arts Risograph classes in 2024. These pieces were all printed at our studio, either during a class session, or afterwards using the techniques learned in class.

Risograph Printing is a unique method of printmaking that is rapidly gaining popularity in the art world. Invented in Japan in the 1980’s, the Risograph Duplicator was originally meant as an efficient alternative to office copy machines. In recent years, it has been embraced by the printmaking community for its rapid printing abilities, vibrant colors, and environmentally friendly soy-based inks.

The Riso uses a proprietary system of inks that allow  for unusual colors beyond the usual CMYK. Due to the slight transparency of the inks, unique color combinations, fun texture, and interesting overlaps are hallmarks of the medium. Our studio has a RZ 390UI Risograph Duplicator, with 8 color drums - scarlet, fluorescent pink, fluorescent orange, sunflower, kelly green, mint, blue, and black.

Nova Community Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education center located in Atwater Village, Los Angeles. We are committed  to offering arts education, access to materials and equipment, and  a platform of creative expression for the community, including  students, professionals, and amateurs alike. We are dedicated to  serving underrepresented populations in LA, and providing inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. We offer 4-week classes, single day workshops, open studio  access, and guest programming at our studio five days a week. All  levels of experience are welcome. Come hang out and make art!

SUPERNOVA will be on view until January 5th, 2025.

NOV 8 — DEC 1, 2024 | Hello My Name Is Sequoyah, is a debut solo show by Sequoyah Johnson. Embracing vulnerability and growth, Sequoyah’s work captures the tension between insecurity and confidence, illustrating their journey of claiming the title: artist. Through fluid natural forms and unexpected objects, they balance spontaneity with meaning, transforming each piece into a dialogue between material and
significance.

Sequoyah Johnson is a ceramic artist whose work delves into identity, transformation, and self-expression through playful, symbolic forms. With a foundation in personal narrative and bold experimentation, Sequoyah creates pieces that reflect the complexities of self-discovery. Her ceramics blend everyday motifs with deep
introspection, inviting viewers to connect the tangible with the emotional.

OCT 4 — NOV 3, 2024 | Querencia: Recuerdos TransFormterizas, by Gabriel Guzmán, is a photo-series about home that aims to gather and share the affective experiences of communities of color living between San Diego and Tijuana. Querencia is dedicated to building an archive of these moments across the everyday lives of these communities in the form of photographs and mixed-media informed by Latinx cultural traditions.

This exhibition draws on the Chicano concept of “lo rasquache” to unveil how these communities turn to querencia as a relational strategy of survival rooted in community and friendship. Querencia as a “domesticana” sensibility builds on the Chicano concept of “lo rasquache” to reconsider the spatiality of home by disrupting the borders between the personal and the political, geography and place, the photographer and subjects by centering queerness in the context of the U.S-Mexico borderlands. And more importantly, querencia unveils the transformative possibilities that emerge from these histories rooted in the quotidian and the intimate.

SEP 20 — SEP 29, 2024 | Virgin Whore is an exploration of the aesthetics of "cuteness" and how “cute” is applied in context of gender and sexuality. The duality of the words "virgin" & "whore" are questioned through a system of narrative devices and animal symbols that trace the creation of a personal mythology loaded with the history of her experiences as a Mexican American woman. Cute and cuddly plush toys are actively re-claiming feminine tropes presented in children's media, particularly the “Disney-fication" of small baby animals -prey- and female characters as non- threatening and submissive. Giant insects and other animals are either reclaimed or constructed with lush fabrics and styled with spiked heels. They have their own agency and sexuality, they subvert their expectation as objects of comfort while retaining the seductiveness of touch for the viewer. Petunia the spider is the creative and matriarchal force. Her creations sit in the gallery as a domestic yet surrealistic place. Like the artist this is her temple, her dream, her world. She is driven by the desire to protect and empower and create. Her web is cast among the space and her creations, her babies are hung in ways that reflect a love bondage dynamic, coveted, loved, protected but ultimately confined in a psychological space.

AUG 31 — SEP 15, 2024 | Hold Me Close is a show that treasures the small things in the lives of Rachael Chan and Maya Ruiz that continue to reignite their joy and hope for a brighter future. The show features the two artists' innermost treasures: objects, places, and feelings that they seek out for, time and time again, with a newfound, childlike wonder. The world offers these silent gifts everyday, abundantly, relentlessly, and their work is a reflection of this beautiful phenomenon.

A protest against the life and future that they have been given, the work represents a strong belief that there can be a world where richness is not found in how much one owns; richness can be found in the smallest of things: in the feeling of pressing your cheek to a cypress, or holding the ocean's precious things in your palms. In these works of gratitude, we hope that viewers leave the show knowing that they are held and loved quietly by the world.

Maya Ruiz is a Japanese-Venezuelan artist born and raised in Los Angeles. Their work reflects a dance between tender shapes and vibrant color to create art about the people, things, and places that she loves. Through drawing, they explore how color and line can unfold a portal one could step through into a specific time, feeling, and place where Ruiz has felt they have conversed with the universe.

Rachael Chan is a born and raised Los Angelean artist, of Taiwanese and Hong Kongese descent. Their work embraces the interplay of not knowing and knowing, of letting go and grasping, of resting and running. Often exploring their innermost world and subconscious through whatever medium they get their hands on, their work is often playful, whimsical, and strange, just like them.

AUG 2 — AUG 25, 2024 | A Sticky Heart! Many hearts could roll down a hill, but yours would gather more. Tumbleweed! Ants! Tulips! Dirt! A sticky heart needs more tending. A sticky heart is a gift. It collects the in-between, that’s where the most beautiful things wait to be found.

Izzi Lee is a cartoonist with a lot of feelings. She commits to building a fictional universe that mirrors the true vulnerability within her inner world. A place where we can acknowledge our spectrum of feelings without shame. Continuing to choose hope throughout the joys, pains, and mundane of ordinary life.

JUNE 28 — JULY 28, 2024 | Las Fotos Project presents: Chroma, a solo photography exhibition by Wendy Cubillo.

Through the creative expressions of Los Angeles youth, Chroma sheds light on the often overlooked facets of coming of age. The project embraces intersectional identity and represents the journey of self-discovery through the lens of three distinct sections. The first section explores expectation and perfection as we question societal norms. Section two is the aftermath. It is the depiction of anger and frustration as we confront heartbreak, loss, sexuality, and body image, asserting that chaos is not an antagonist, but rather a catalyst for personal growth. In the final act, Chroma celebrates confidence, resilience, and strength. It honors community artists, family, and friendships, symbolizing the beautiful chaos of growing up and the diverse experiences that shape identity.

In making statements through photography and journalism, Wendy Cubillo (b. East Los Angeles, California, 2004) tells stories related to identity, culture, and pride. She is a live music, event, and studio photographer, often combining the three to highlight self-expression. Wendy has created a print and online platform, Eonagapi, showcasing local community creatives from music, fashion, art, and film. She received the 2022 Youth Catalyst Award awarded by Las Fotos Project and the city of Los Angeles for actively disrupting mainstream media. Wendy strives to push the boundaries of photography by focusing on small details, culture, and complex emotions.

MAY 31 — JUNE 23, 2024 | COGNITIVE DISSONANCE presents a body of contemporary artwork made by visual artists from around the country. These paintings, photos, videos, and sculptures are united by a shared exploration of what it means to play a role, play pretend, or perform an identity. By ruminating on what it means to live vicariously through ideas, people, iconography, and memory, this body of work grapples with the multiplicity of being and the inherent contradictions of living amongst worlds that simultaneously exist in opposition and in harmony with one another.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE is also the name of their artist collective. They are a group of interdisciplinary artists seeking to learn and grow together by curating arts events showcasing local artwork, facilitating musical and artistic performances, and build community.

Participating Artists: Genesis Andrade, Fiona Baler, Nina Barnett, Nola Clancy, Dominick Cocozza, Esther L Cohen, Izzy Dean, Rhianna Gides, Meredith Rae Hamilton, Caroline Ju, Oliver Otake, Blue Reinhard, Kate Renshaw-Lewis, Zoey Solomon, Hannah Lupton Reinhard, and Christopher Warinofsky.

MAY 3 — MAY 26, 2024 | Things That Are Long showcases the Master of Fine Art in Studio Art thesis exhibition of Frankie Gutierrez, a California State University, San Bernardino graduate student. Named after their latest illustrated picture book, THINGS THAT ARE LONG a book of long things, Frankie plays with queer aesthetics, food comparisons to the body, and illustrates trans bodies in new and hairier ways. Drawing from personal experience and the broader discussion of transness, Frankie explores his own transition, and the non-mainstream trans identities through illustrations, prints, large-scale murals, and short animated films.

Frankie Gutierrez is an illustrator and printmaker working within the Inland Empire's print and self-publishing book art communities. Utilizing bright colors and silly faces, they endeavor to highlight the playful nature of gender fluidity, and non-mainstream trans identities. Their work consists primarily of woodcut and litho prints, focusing on the process-heavy technical aspect of printing, relating the act of printing to queer labor and labor-intensive art-making practices for maximalist design. Using found objects and old clunky frames, they reimagine the world with fuzzy lines, neon colors, texture, pattern, and form for funky and intriguing characters who look like you and me, and no one at all.

APRIL 5 — APRIL 28, 2024 | Keepshapes was Nina Forman’s solo exhibition. As well as being a familiar face in local band Morning Forever, Nina is a local oil, acrylic, and found object abstract painter based in the San Fernando Valley.

Within the build up of surface and texture, Forman’s paintings capture an exploration of shapes through processes of upheaval and reinstatement. Enriched by Forman’s collection of memorabilia, the gallery space serves as a keepsake of items that have prevailed throughout her time making paintings. Her paintings and supplemental objects are embedded within cycles of keeping and throwing away, which are reminders of the constant flux of existence. The act of preserving vital memories and discarding the obsolete intertwine in a dance of continuity and renewal.

On opening night we got lost in abstract paintings while being serenaded with special music performances by Mik Sullivan, Leo Sun, and Morning Forever.

MAR 15 — MAR 31, 2024 | No Object was Math Erao’s and A Klass’s debut photo exhibition.

Coming from two different photographic modalities, No Object is an attempt to merge respective styles while utilizing the same subjects and settings/objects, offering both an intimate subjective view and an observational objective view (that’s actually another subjective view). Both the process and final presentation seek to touch on the meaning of subjective versus objective, the blurring of what constitutes a “fixed” reality, and connect these ideas to our shared (but unique) trans perspectives as photographers.

MAR 1 — MAR 10, 2024 | Haunted Media Archeology is the debut art show of Dakota Hill, cell animation and installation artist. For hundreds of years, before the invention of the moving image, the word “animation” was used to describe the bestowing of life. To give breath to, and, in some cases, bring back from the dead. What started as personal technocultural interest has evolved into an animation project in the broadest sense of the term - an effort to materialize spirits that are both no longer and not yet.

Part research library, part twilight zone, Dakota’s work evades easy description. Her tiktok videos have been watched by millions, garnering attention from Rupaul Drag Race all stars to regrettable pop musicians. For the first time in public exhibition, Dakota shares their expansive technocultural findings: trans muppets, cartoon celluloids, designer barbie dolls, and more. Immerse yourself in interactive mixed media dioramas and virtual experiences that offer the comfort of childhood nostalgia with just a twinge of uncanny.

FEB 2 — FEB 4, 2024 | My Best Ally is a photo series exploring the importance of supporters outside of the lgbtqia*+ community. It is an international project, showcasing the photography work of Sophia Emmerich and Lisa-Sophie Kempke visiting from Berlin, Germany. By featuring eight stories of queers and their favorite allies, the photographers aim to empower people to support marginalized groups in the best way they can. Opening night included a photo booth, free snacks and beverages, flash tattoos by our resident artists, and a chance to connect with the exhibiting artists.

FEB 2 — FEB 4, 2024 | Hand Follows Eye Studios presents Many Hands: a showcase of unclaimed, anonymous figure drawings produced in our workshops from 2021-2023. Each drawing was left behind in one of our communal sketchbooks. Although we don't know who made these pieces, the drawings display a rainbow of visions and styles, and each figure is perfectly unique and alive in itself. Proceeds from the sale of these artworks went towards the acquisition of new communal art materials as well as provided scholarships for the community. 

Exhibition is curated by Hand Follows Eye founders, Rachel Deane and Mads Gobbo.

JAN 12 — JAN 27, 2024 | In the first show of the year, commUNITY, 25+ local artists from the QTBIPOC community answered the prompt: Community & Unity - what do these words mean to you? What does it look like to nurture a community, or to be nurtured by a community? What art work of yours best represents your community?  Artworks include sculpture, illustrations, film photography, ceramics, oil and acrylic painting, fiber arts, and much more. Opening night held two live performances: one led by ceramic artist Ariella Kirschbaum preforming with ceramic instruments, and a poetry reading by Ammy Ontiveros.

Exhibiting Artists: Ariella Kirschbaum, Shiori Takemori, Ammy Ontiveros, Tina Tona, Arianna Perez, Mateo Croom, Ashton Phillips, Seanna Latiff, Steph Maldonado, Marantz Moon, Lorena Endara, Shhleon Ceramics, K Willert, Shannon Hanson, Peter Villafañe, Donyé Green, Taylor Caliz, Jane O'Neill, Gabrielw Guzman, Sabrina Mari, Sabrina Arriaga, Tzasná Pérez Espinosa, Loren Armstrong, Trenyce Tong, Emily Dean, and Genean Jue.

commUNITY was curated by Chelsie Rivera, Art Curator at Junior High.

2023