“Concrete Hope” Enters Final Weekend Ahead of Closing Reception

Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at Santa Monica College, stands for a photo at Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The exhibition Concrete Hope brings together thirty-eight emergent photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California who explore an assortment of installation media as materiality for the photographic depictions. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal, curated by Hirugami and is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, showcases thirty-eight photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal and curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at SMC. The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, showcases thirty-eight photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal and curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at SMC. The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, showcases thirty-eight photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal and curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at SMC. The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, showcases thirty-eight photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal and curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at SMC. The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

Concrete Hope, Esperanza Concreta, showcases thirty-eight photographers and lens-based artists from Southern California at the SMC Performing Arts Center Barrett Art Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Concrete Hope is an axis exhibition of FotoSoCal and curated by Erika Hirugami, MA. MAAB. MPhil. Academic Curator and Professor at SMC. The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025, to May 9, 2026. (Silke Eichholz)

After nearly eight months of being a space to reflect on culture, identity and community, Concrete Hope will come to a close on Saturday, May 9, beginning at 5 p.m. at SMC Barrett Art Gallery.

History of Photography Professor Erika Hirugami curated the exhibition over the course of three years with the goal of presenting Latinidad. Bringing together nearly 40 emerging Southern California photographers and lens-based artists across 20 interconnected exhibitions, “Concrete Hope” examines the multiplicity of Brown identity through works exploring Mexican American, Chicanx, Indigenous, Mestiza, Afro Mexicana, immigrant, undoc+, Oaxaqueñe, Yaqui, Migrant, Guatemalan Mexican, Salvadoran, Mexipino (Mexican Filipino), Chapin, and Jaxican (Japanese Mexican) experiences.

Hirugami explained that her goal was never to provide answers, but to encourage visitors to question and engage with experiences beyond their own. “You don’t need to be of a specific culture in order to celebrate a culture,” said Hirugami.

Since opening in September, the exhibition has sparked conversations that go beyond the artwork itself. Hirugami recalled visitors reacting not only to the photography, but to the sense of affirmation the space created. Some were inspired by the artistic techniques on display, while others were inspired to imagine their own future within the art world.

“One less person in the universe now has an idea that they don’t belong in museums,” Hirugami said. “That is worth all of the labor.”

The exhibition also challenges the narratives often associated with Latinx communities in mainstream media. Instead of centering on violence or political rhetoric, “Concrete Hope” is all about Latinx joy, with piñatas, vírgenes, tattoos, petates, and metates imagery appearing throughout the gallery.

For those who have not yet visited, the closing reception marks the final opportunity to experience the exhibit.

“It's nearly 40 Latinx photographers in Southern California that were joined together by this exhibition to think through critically what it means to be in this community at this time in history,” Hirugami said. “That is very important.”