Moving Forward, Looking Back: Journeys Across the Old Spanish Trail New exhibition opening in Argyros Forum

Janire Nájera

Moving Forward, Looking Back: Journeys Across the Old Spanish Trail is an artistic project combining photography, video, and sound by Spanish artist Janire Nájera who has explored the Spanish legacy along the Old Spanish Trail.

Moving Forward, Looking Back began in March 2014 with a road trip across the Southwest following the footsteps of trader Antonio Armijo, who opened the route of the Old Spanish Trail between the states of New Mexico and California in the 19th century. Janire Nájera traveled by RV, starting her journey in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the oldest continuously occupied state capital in the United States, and passing by areas of Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada until finally arriving in Los Angeles, California. This journey evokes the spirit of adventure synonymous with the trail and the wider depiction of these six states ever since they were frontier lands or environments of discovery. For more information, please visit the exhibition website, Moving Forward, Looking Back: Journeys Across the Old Spanish Trail.

Janire Nájera

Join the Art Collections department for an Artist Reception on Thursday, February 09, 4:00pm – 7:00pm in Argyros Forum, Room 209C. This event is free and open to all. No RSVP is required. Music and refreshments will be provided, followed by an artist’s talk.

The exhibition will be on view from February 01 – June 27, 2017 in Argyros Forum, 2nd floor, Henley Galleria. Hours: Monday – Friday, 7am – 8pm and Saturday – Sunday, 8am – 8pm.

Also, save the date for a special event in collaboration with Chapman University’s Leatherby Libraries on March 29, 2017, 5:00pm – 7:30pm. This event will take place in the Leatherby Libraries Henley Reading Room. Enjoy refreshments and live music, and a panel discussion, “The Dream of America”, moderated by President Daniele Struppa.

Please contact the department at artcollections@chapman.edu for any questions!

Funding for this exhibition and the artist residency was generously provided by the European Union (EU)—in partnership with EU, Chapman University’s Wilkinson College of Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences is engaged in the program, EU and US: Getting to Know Europe, and collaborating under the project, Creative and Cultural Industries: Unlocking the EU-US Potential.

Janire Nájera and her artistic collaborator, Matt Wright, will be artists-in-residence at Chapman University during the month of Feburary 2017.

Moving Forward, Looking Back is a project of SPAIN arts&culture, the cultural program of the Embassy of Spain. In August 2013 there was an open call among the members of SPAIN RED, a platform for the promotion of Spanish artists and creators in the United States. The premise of the contest was to present a significant panorama of the culture of the “Spanish-American”, the living testimony of more than 300 years of Spanish presence in this territory. This project sought to reflect this experience with a contemporary and attractive language through a creative, original, and accessible vision. There were more than 30 proposals, and the proposal presented by photographer Janire Nájera was chosen.

Funding is also generously provided by the Escalette Endowment and the Chapman University Art Collections, and Wales Arts International.