Special Dia de los Muertos pop up exhibition:
Altar: Celebrating the diversity of the Latinx experience in our community
Michael Montenegro, Dewey Nicks, Sara Prince, and Fulbert Gutierrez
On view: October 22 - November 5, 2023
Michael Montenegro is an activist, historian, (Community Heritage advocate), multimedia artist, and founder of Chicano Culture SB, 2014. His work focuses on local Chicana/o/x culture and consists of graphic design, mixed media, articles, photos, videos, archiving, and producing culturally relevant events. He's the founder of SB Mural Bike Ride, an annual bike ride that celebrates local history and culture via murals - happening on 11/4/24. This year will be the 9th event.
His art is his activism - when it comes to cultural representation in storytelling. Passionate to educate, inform, and awareness. His work is about humanizing his culture against the demonization and portrayed as one-sided.
Dewey Nicks is a professional fashion and commercial photographer, commercial director, and filmmaker. During family vacations to Hollywood as a child, he became intoxicated with its glamor and eccentricity. His love of fine arts finally drew him to California to study photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
His talent, combined with a deep well of enthusiasm, has landed his work in magazines such as Vogue, W, and GQ among many others. He has also created classic advertising images for clients including Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, and Polo. In 2000 Greybull Press published Kustom, Nicks’ first book of photographs inspired by the very ideals and unique expression that originally attracted him to California.
Versatile and talented, Dewey Nicks will be shaping popular culture for years to come. Grounded by his mid-western roots, Nicks’ body of work combines an authentic visual sense with a great knowledge of the arts to convey his pragmatic understanding of the zeitgeist of contemporary America.
Sara Prince is a lifestyle photographer, Santa Barbara Native and contributing photographer for Santa Barbara Magazine where these images were originally published for the feature story Chicana Cultura from their Winter 2021 issue.
Special thanks to Santa Barbara Magazine and Gina Tolleson. The Chicana Cultura story can be viewed online here.
Image: Michael Montenegro, Chicana Cultura de Santa Barbara, Chumash Territory. Courtesy the Artist.