The Merced Arts Center is in the final weeks before opening the doors for the Identity group art show reception. Organized by artist and activist Eli Sachse, the Identity exhibit will bring together a primarily transgender and non-binary identified group of artists from throughout the Northern California region, including local artists from the Merced area.
The show marks a major milestone for the community of Merced and wider area. With 28,000 square feet of gallery space to fill for the two months that the show will be on display, the Identity exhibit will be both among the first of its kind and the largest ever held in the California region.
The exhibition is designed with two key objectives in mind. Through the use of paintings, photographs, performing arts, and other mediums the show aims to put the beauty of transgender and non-binary people on full display. In addition to bringing the beauty of transgender and non-binary people to the forefront the show works to raise awareness that trans people have been a part of every culture throughout history, although hate, stigma and narrow definitions of beauty have prevented them from being equally represented.
Currently, the Identity exhibit is on display inside of the Merced Multicultural Arts Center until July 27. Artists featured as part of the exhibit include painters Eli Sachse, Cris Denney, Emma Arnold and Brea Weinreb, photographer Tristan Crane, gender studies professor Sé Sullivan, and performance artists sair goetz and Violet Smith.
The show’s reception is scheduled for July 20, and will include a special performance art event. Located at 645 W. Main Street in Downtown Merced, the Merced Multicultural Art Center’s galleries are open Monday through Friday, from 11AM until 6 PM and on Saturday from 10 AM until 2 PM. The exhibition and reception are free, open to all ages and wheelchair accessible.
For more information on the Merced Multicultural Arts Center of the Identity exhibit, residents can contact the gallery at 209.388.1090 or by logging onto ArtsMerced.org.
The Merced Arts Center will be opening its doors on July 20 to host a reception for their next group exhibition Identity, which will bring together primarily transgender and non-binary identified artists, and has the distinction of being the first of its kind in the local area and the largest ever held in California according to organizers.
The group exhibition will feature a multitude of artworks and mediums created by transgender and non-binary identified artists throughout the 28,000 square foot downtown Merced art gallery.
Oil paintings by Eli Sachse will be on display alongside numerous other works as part of the Merced Arts Center's upcoming show entitled Identity.
