About
Mission
The Mary Porter Sesnon Art Galleries drives research, innovates education, enacts social transformation, and builds community at UC Santa Cruz. We support scholarship, exhibitions and programming leveraging the research and creative work of our faculty, students, and staff. We foster an interdisciplinary, student-centered approach to learning. We create exhibitions and education programs that reflect the deep commitment at UC Santa Cruz to promote the arts as a force for social change. And, we act as a cultural resource for the university and our broader region, reinforcing the social fabric by fostering connections across the campus and facilitating interactions with alumni and our community.
What We Do
Located in Porter College at UC Santa Cruz, the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, the premier art gallery on campus, focuses on impacting student education and creating community through the arts. The Sesnon Galleries include the Main Gallery, the Faculty Gallery, and the student-curated Sesnon Underground, and they showcase the talent and creativity of students, faculty, and alumni.
Who We Are
The Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery (Sesnon) was established in 1971 through a gift from Barbara Sesnon Cartan in memory of her mother, Mary Sophia Porter, who was big supporter of the arts in Santa Cruz County. In the past five decades, the Sesnon has produced a legacy of provocative exhibitions and programming from an amazing roster of talented curators/directors including Philip Brookman, Rolando Castellon, Andrea Hesse, Bridget Barnes, Pamela Bailey, and Shelby Graham, as well as many guest scholars and curators.
Valéria (“Val”) Miranda (she/her)
Director
Valéria is passionate about the power of the arts and culture to change individuals, communities, and society. Valéria has worked in and with arts organizations since 1992. She has curated a number of exhibitions and programs in the San Francisco & Monterey Bay Areas. She is deeply committed to equitable access in the arts. Dance has been her core artistic expression since she was a little kid in Rio de Janeiro, where she was born and raised. Valéria is an avid reader and maker of food, clothes, drawings, photos, and jewelry. She spends her free time cultivating joy and rest in the beaches and forests of Santa Cruz County with her many beloved friends and community.
Veriche Blackwell (they/them)
Museum Preparator
Veriche is a 20 something preparator who can remember being a 17 year old preparator and who expects to one day be an 80 year old preparator. They began working in the arts as a student intern at the Sesnon Gallery and are excited to return and share their passion for art handling. For them, putting on a show feels like creating an ephemeral immersive sculpture in collaboration with the artist(s) and curator. They are always learning new crafts and skills for different exhibitions and feel so lucky to have a job which is always pushing them to learn more. In their free time, Veriche enjoys reading (particularly sci-fi), playing casual sports with friends, and hanging out with their two cats.
Farr Collection
The Charles Griffin Farr Collection consists of over 500 drawings and oil paintings and functions both as an exhibiting collection as well as a teaching collection training students skills such as museum registration and art handling. Charles Griffin Farr was born in 1908 in Birmingham, Alabama. He studied in New York City and at the Academie Americaine in Paris, France. Upon his death in 1997, Mr. Farr willed his life’s work to UC Santa Cruz for public view and appreciation by future generations. Mr. Farr gifted many paintings and drawings to the University Collection, some of which are currently on display at University Center, representing the full spectrum of his artistic career. The Sesnon also has a small number of artworks from various artists, including former professors and alumni.
Thank you!
Your gift of any size will allow the Sesnon Galleries to continue providing world-class contemporary art programming to UC Santa Cruz, support student success and professional development opportunities, and uplift the creativity of students, faculty, and alumni.
For more information
Contact Mary Porter Sesnon Galleries
Porter College @ UCSC
Email: sesnon@ucsc.edu
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