The UCLA Cultural Affairs Commission hosted the opening of its fourth annual Filipinx and Latinx Gallery on Oct. 14 at the Kerckhoff Art Gallery as Filipino American History Month overlapped with the closing weeks of Latine Heritage Month. The exhibition founded in 2023 according to a Pacific Ties report aims to honor both communities while highlighting their historical and cultural solidarity that stems in part from shared experiences of Spanish colonial rule. This year’s event drew together visual art across multiple mediums with additional elements of film and performance to create a multifaceted celebration that Pacific Ties described as emphasizing art’s role in documentation and community building.
A Pacific Ties report detailed that the gallery featured works in painting graphite drawing collage poetry mixed media and sculpture with most pieces created by UCLA students and recent graduates. The exhibition also incorporated two paintings and a wooden sculpture by Filipino American artist and muralist Eliseo Art Silva whose landmark mural in Historic Filipinotown has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as a bold depiction of Filipino American labor history in the 1965 Delano Grape Strike. Silva’s contributions anchored the show which a Pacific Ties assessment found reflected the breadth of artistic expression within the intersecting communities.
The opening ceremony included an open mic session during which contributing artists offered statements about their works according to Pacific Ties coverage of the event. A mini documentary by student filmmaker Inez Amihan Anderson screened next focusing on the successful Justice for Trafficked Lancaster Caregivers campaign that launched in March 2026. Grassroots organizations including Migrante San Fernando Valley initiated the effort after Filipino caregivers in Lancaster reported fraudulent recruitment practices low wages and substandard living conditions through a Philippine based agency as Bulatlat reported earlier this year.
Performances followed the screening with recent graduate Gabriela Moncerrath Valdes student Aljona Reyno and student Konani Chinn each delivering free writes or poetry. Student Kai Cachupe then performed an original song to close out the artistic presentations. Pacific Ties noted that these elements extended the gallery’s visual focus into dynamic live expressions that reinforced themes of cultural documentation and resilience.
The evening concluded with a lecture from Silva the exhibition’s guest artist that traced three golden ages of Filipino art. His presentation covered the pre colonial period the era of the First Philippine Republic and a contemporary resurgence that gained momentum after the COVID 19 pandemic according to the Pacific Ties account. Silva whose own practice includes pioneering murals across the United States and designs for major monuments positioned the current moment as an opportunity for Filipino artists to center their narratives and gain broader recognition.
The event builds on a pattern of collaborative cultural programming at UCLA that Pacific Ties said has returned each year since the gallery’s founding to foster dialogue between Filipinx and Latinx students and artists. Los Angeles hosts some of the largest concentrations of both populations in the United States with the city’s Filipino community tracing roots to early 20th century migration waves that paralleled Latino immigration histories. Such exhibitions according to university affiliated reports serve to strengthen cross cultural ties through shared artistic spaces at a time when heritage months draw renewed attention to these groups’ contributions.
