Current Exhibition: From the Valley to the Sea

Presenting From the Valley to the Sea: Prints for Community Action by Pável Acevedo

February 24 – April 9, 2026 in Student Services, Room 217

The Moreno Valley College Art Gallery presents From the Valley to the Sea: Prints for Community Action, an exhibition of works by printmaker and muralist Pável Acevedo that address urgent social issues and demonstrate art's power to inspire change.

Learn More About the Exhibition About the Artist

Exhibition Events

• Student Workshop: Friday, March 13, 10 am - 3 pm, LIB 101 — RSVP Needed 

• Community Print Event: Tuesday, March 17, 10 am - 3 pm, Coudures Plaza in conjunction with the MVC Farmer’s Market (rain location: SAS 121) — Free & Open to the Public

• Viewing Hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 10 am - 2 pm; Wednesday: 12:30 - 4:30 pm

About the Exhibition

From the Valley to the Sea: Prints for Community Action is an exhibition of works by printmaker and muralist Pável Acevedo that address urgent social issues and demonstrate art's power to inspire change. 

Acevedo creates intricate linocut prints that blend Zapotec, Mixtec, and Oaxacan influences from his birthplace with a commitment to social and environmental justice. Throughout the gallery, viewers encounter hybrid human-animal figures inspired by Mesoamerican nahuales—spiritual beings that shift between human and animal forms. In works like Comunal and Brown Bat, these figures channel nature's power to envision new possibilities beyond human-made crises. Acevedo embraces "chatter"—the dark lines of ink filling negative space within the print—which, though traditionally considered a flaw, adds rich texture and energy to his scenes, animating the worlds his figures occupy. 

The exhibition's title references the phrase "from the river to the sea," adapting it to Southern California's geography while connecting local struggles to broader experiences of displacement and resistance. Acevedo's prints address issues vital to Latinx and immigrant communities: migration, housing shortages, workers' rights, and environmental degradation. In Least Bell's Vireo, he depicts an endangered migratory songbird of Southern California whose habitat loss mirrors human struggles against unchecked development. 

Acevedo works within a tradition of printmaking as activism, exemplified by Mexico's historic Taller de Gráfica Popular and the Rufino Tamayo Workshop where he trained. The exhibition features original prints alongside commissioned posters and apparel created for labor unions and community groups, reflecting printmaking's collaborative nature and its role in grassroots organizing. Acevedo's recent work includes community workshops and print fundraisers supporting mutual aid programs across Southern California as the nation confronts escalating threats to immigrant communities and civil liberties. 

Beyond raising awareness, Acevedo's prints imagine transformative futures. Three works depict a young woman—modeled after his daughter—engaging with water, love, death, and land, expressing his belief that younger generations hold the key to protecting nature and humanity. His activist alphabet draws empowerment symbols from nature: G is for Gladys celebrates the orca who famously challenged luxury yachts; H is for Hawk shows the bird as a watchful guardian. In Ecosystems, six medallions show animals facing challenges, while a seventh features a rabbit-human nahuale in fetal position, surrounded by swirling lines suggesting waves or galaxies—a hopeful vision of rebirth. 

Bold, accessible, and unapologetically political, Acevedo's prints demonstrate how art mobilizes resources, builds solidarity, and amplifies marginalized voices. 

About the Artist

Pável Acevedo is a printmaker, muralist, and art educator from Oaxaca, Mexico, based in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. He has exhibited nationally and has held residencies at Self Help Graphics, KALA Art Institute, College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, and Horned Toad Print Shop in El Paso, TX. His artwork is in public collections at the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, TX; the Met Library in New York, NY; and at Self Help Graphics, the Riverside Art Museum, and KALA Art Institute in California.