“I am a Chicano doing an impersonation of an artist, so I do use art and art resources for the purposes of getting at political and economic issues, but also for the purpose of trying to demonstrate that there is a notion of a common humanity.”

— David Avalos, April 22, 1994

¡David Avalos, Presente! is a celebration of the life and legacy of the late artist David Avalos. Currently on view at the AD&A Museum is Welcome to America’s Finest Tourist Plantation (1988), a first of many collaborative projects by the artists Elizabeth Sisco, Louis Hock, and David Avalos. Join us on Friday, December 5 at 1pm to pay honor to Avalos and his impact on the Chicano Art Movement in California.

The event will begin in the galleries with an overview of Avalos’ practice by Ana Briz, AD&A Museum Assistant Director and Curator of Exhibitions. Sisco and Hock will then continue with a discussion of their collaborations over the years. Following the presentations, Angel Diaz, Curator of the California Ethnic & Multicultural Archives at the UCSB Library, will share archival materials featuring and by Avalos from the Centro Cultural de la Raza archives. To close the event, a gathering will be held over food and drink outside in the Museum courtyard.

Hosted by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum and co-organized with the UC Santa Barbara Library, this event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Beyond the Object: Selections from the Permanent Collection, on view at the AD&A Museum through December 7, 2025.