Dates: Thu, Apr 22, 2021 to Tue, May 25, 2021
Location: Sesnon Gallery
Sesnon Speak Up: Visibilizing Possibilities, a panel discussion with First Generation Arts Alumni
April 22, 3:30-5:00pm during Alumni Week 2021
The Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery Art Gallery is proud to announce the gallery’s 50th Anniversary with a stunning virtual exhibition, First Generation Arts Alumni. These programs (exhibition and panel discussion) seek to raise the visibility of first-generation* arts alumni and students at UC Santa Cruz by highlighting their narratives, possibilities, and strengths through their work. This is an opportunity to recognize the challenges and unique gifts that they bring to the university and the arts. *In this context, we use first-generation as a term to describe someone who is the first in their family to attend university.

First Generation Arts Alumni, a virtual exhibition, is no longer available.
A detail view of the exhibition by image is available.
The virtual exhibition features works by:
- Jim Hair (College Five/Porter ’74)
- Katerina Lanfranco (Kresge ’01)
- Ash Armenta (Porter ’11)
- Louise Leong (Porter ’12)
- Monique Islam (Porter ’12)
- Oscar Moreno (Merrill ’12)
- Edward Ramirez (College Ten ’15)
- Thomas Fallis (Porter ’16)
- Sarah Do (Porter ’17)
- Natalie Jauregui Ortiz (Porter ’18)
- Karina Tavares Perez (Porter ’18)
- Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (Rachel Carson ’18)
- Roan Bontempo (Porter ’18)
- John Joseph Contreras Romero (Cowell ’19)
- Irma Barbosa (Porter ’19)
- Jocelyn Lee (College Ten ’20)
- Alicia Persaud (Porter ’20)
- Davidra Jackson (Porter ’20)
- Edgar Cruz (Porter ’20)
Presented by the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery in collaboration with Porter College and the UC Santa Cruz Arts Division for Alumni Week 2021.

Katerina Lanfranco (Kresge ’01), Midnight Sun, 2009. Hand cut paper

Natalie Jauregui Ortiz (Porter ‘18), when our record is done, 2019. Oil on Canvas
Irma Barbosa (Porter ‘19), Untitled (My mother’s belly), 2019. Photograph

Irma Barbosa (Porter ‘19), Self Portrait (in my mother’s room), 2019. Photograph

Louise Leong (Porter ‘12), Nice Hipster Chair, 2018. Gouache on Paper

Louise Leong (Porter ‘12), I Loved My La-Z Boy, 2018. Gouache on Paper

Katerina Lanfranco (Kresge ‘01), Natural Selection, 2012. Hand Cut Paper Installation in the Sesnon Gallery

Jim Hair (College 5 ‘74), Mary Holmes, 1973. Black and White Silverprint

Jim Hair (College 5 ‘74), Angela Davis, 1973. Black and White Silverprint

Jim Hair (College 5 ‘74), Luis Valdez, 1971. Black and White Silverprint

Monique Islam (Porter ‘12), Tio Raul’s Banana Tree, 2020. Photography

Monique Islam (Porter ‘12), Magy & Cactus, 2016. Photography


Natalie Jauregui Ortiz (Porter ‘18), Library Bookcase, 2019. Oil on Canvas

Natalie Jauregui Ortiz (Porter ‘18), Denial, 2020. Oil on Canvas

Sarah Do (Porter ‘17), Miss Pink in Green, 2020. Acrylic and ink

Sarah Do (Porter ‘17), Faerie with Lilies, 2020. Acrylic and ink

Katerina Lanfranco (Kresge ‘01), Forming the Heart of a Quasar, 2008. Oil on linen

Jocelyn Lee (College Ten ‘20), 1 in 11,600 Residents is a billionaire, and they all want ice sculptures, 2019. Silkscreen

Jocelyn Lee (College Ten ‘20), playground for the rich, 2019. Silkscreen

Jocelyn Lee (College Ten ‘20), nowhere sounds like a place i’d like to go, 2019. Lithograph

Oscar Moreno (Merrill ‘12), New Year’s Doodle, 2021. Micron on paper

Oscar Moreno (Merrill ‘12), Sketchbooks, 2021. Board, paper, thread

John Joseph Contreras Romero (Cowell ‘19), What We’ve Built, 2019. Ashwood, basswood, wooden dowel, wood glue, wood lathe

John Joseph Contreras Romero (Cowell ‘19), To Be Or Not To Be, 2020. Styrofoam mannequin head, mask, sewn bullet shell casings

Davidra Jackson (Porter ‘20), Muse #1, 2019. Digital photograph

Karina Tavares Perez (Porter ‘18), At the end of the mushroom trail, 2019. Woodblock print on washi

Karina Tavares Perez (Porter ‘18), Hold Me Close, 2019. Woodblock print on washi

Thomas Fallis (Porter ‘16), recuerdo, ND.

Edward Ramirez (College Ten ‘15), Felipe, 2020. Photograph, digital print

Edward Ramirez (College Ten ‘15), Yepez, 2020. Film Ppotograph/Digital print

Edward Ramirez (College Ten ‘15), Eli, 2021. Digital illustration

Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (Rachel Carson ‘18), Joe, 2020.

Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (Rachel Carson ‘18), Lately I Wanna Smack Some Mouths, 2021. Inkjet on polyester satin

Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (Rachel Carson ‘18), Shared Tears, 2020. Inkjet on luster

Ash Armenta (Porter ‘11 ), Open Into (Us), 2021. Folded dimensional lithograph

Ash Armenta (Porter ‘11 ), I See Us Here, 2021. Installation of folded dimensional screenprints at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Alicia Persaud (Porter ‘20), Fluctuation, 2020. Photo intaglio

Alicia Persaud (Porter ‘20), Retrospect, 2020. Mixed media

Roan Bontempo (Porter ‘18), The Great Pachinko Folly, 2021. Photo illustration
