Xicano Community Narratives Exhibit
Petaluma Arts Center
230 Lakeville Street
(323) 208-1226
Thursday September 18, 2025 to Saturday November 1, 2025
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Price Varies
A collection of work by bay area artists.
The use of the term “Chicano,” or more recently, “Xicano,” is a self-proclaimed identity for many Americans of Mexican descent. It originated in the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s as a form of empowerment and pride. The more recent use of the capital ‘X,’ which refers back to Spanish simplification of the pictographic Nahuatl language, is a reclamation and expression of Indigenous experiences of colonialization. Some add an ‘x’ to the end of the word (Xicanx) to include gender-non-binary people.
The artists invited to participate in this exhibition call Sonoma County home. Their work expresses individual stories of identity and experience, the experience of being Xicano today (American, Mexican, Californian, Indigenous), and being an artist in an ever-changing landscape.