La Tierra es Testigo
the land is witness

OCT / 2023
From La Tierra es Testigo (the land is witness)
At The Front Arte & Cultura

La Tierra es Testigo (the land is witness) is an art exhibition at the Front Arte & Cultura, depicting different perspectives of the Otay Valley Regional Park (OVRP). This exhibition is the result of an environmental justice project created during the Artists At Work (AAW) Borderlands Fellowship Program in collaboration with the Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) and Casa Familiar.

Each month we hosted a series of botanical illustration workshops for community members. These workshops were created in hopes of offering an educational opportunity to learn about key native plant species and to recognize the value of the natural landscape in the formation of cultural identity, collective memory, and the prosperity of individual and communal well-being.

This project aims to contribute to the park’s preservation and help nurture these accessible public spaces while acknowledging and respecting the park's history, biodiversity, and ghosts.

1. Milkweed

2. Arroyo Willow

3. Cleveland Sage

4. Bladderpod

4. White sage

About these works...

The following artworks portray a collection of memorials (altars) found throughout the Otay Valley Regional Park. These objects have become part of the park’s identity through the years, changing and decaying simultaneously with the natural environment that surrounds them. Eventually becoming one with nature, these altars stand as a reminder of grief, death, and the essence of those lost. In hopes that these objects’ presence brings respect, awareness, and change, they stand expectantly for a future where these acts of crime and violence are but mere shadows of the past.