Latin Heritage Exhibition ‘OJALA’ Opens in Atlanta 

Laughter, music, and the tapestry of Latin American voices filled the Echo Contemporary Art Gallery during a recent gathering.

A new exhibition celebrating Latin Heritage Month opened at the gallery, featuring works by 60 Latin American artists from around the world.

The show, titled “OJALA” — a Spanish word meaning “I hope” or “God willing” —runs through October. It showcases paintings, interactive installations, and multimedia works exploring themes of immigration and cultural identity.

Nuestra Creacion founder Patricia Hernandez, who immigrated to Atlanta from El Salvador in 2005, said that Nuestra Creacion emerged from her experiences navigating predominantly white-owned galleries that claimed to support diversity but failed to provide meaningful opportunities.

“I was knocking on doors for opportunities and mainly white male-owned galleries that pretend to be community and diversity oriented, but I wasn’t being heard,” Hernandez said during Friday’s opening reception.

Nuestra Creacion launched in 2019 and has now presented seven exhibitions. The current show includes works dedicated to immigrant communities, reflecting what Hernandez described as shared experiences of displacement and systemic oppression.

Featured artists include Dominican Republic native Marsy Santos, whose interactive piece “Nina” depicts a young girl looking through metal window bars, which Santos recognized from her homeland and certain Atlanta neighborhoods after moving to the city’s West End in 2021.

“This piece is inspired by big dreams of a little girl that she’s looking through a window,” Santos said. The work addresses what she calls the “isolation of communities” and mentalities that limit people to their immediate circumstances.

Artist Julia Valdes contributed a watercolor painting titled “Mahjong with Lola,” honoring her late grandmother, who taught her the traditional tile game. Valdes, a first-generation American, said the piece represents the importance of preserving cultural traditions across generations.

“I lost her in 2021, and I think last summer was a big reflective summer for me to express myself and my artwork and make something that honors her,” Valdes said during the opening reception.

The painting depicts an array of watercolor mahjong tiles, featuring different characters, directional symbols, and floral designs that represent different suits in the traditional game. 

“In order to be able to uphold traditions and culture and things like that, my grandma made it so clear that that was important to pass down,” Valdes said. “It kind of is the idea of keeping something alive that might not be on this earth anymore.”

Valdes described how cultural traditions evolve while maintaining their essence: “You make it your own, and you hold true to the things that are important, but you’re also changing it up in ways that are maybe better for the time that you are living in.”

The exhibition statement emphasizes themes of cultural contribution despite ongoing challenges. “We carry with us seeds of hope, of flavor, of resilience, and we plant them in every space we touch,” the statement reads.

Hernandez noted that the timing feels particularly relevant given current immigration policies and what she described as systems that “try to uproot us, to silence our presence and erase our contributions.”

“OJALA” runs through October 31. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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