'Instructions for Unrest: Art Against Complacency'
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Space 4 Art presents "Instructions for Unrest: Art Against Complacency," a group exhibition curated by Alessandra Moctezuma, Gallery Director and Professor of Fine Art at San Diego Mesa College. The third in a series of exhibitions at Art Produce Gallery in 2026, the exhibition opens with a public reception on April 18 from 4-7 p.m. and will remain on view through May 14. In keeping with Space 4 Art’s mission to promote meaningful dialogue and creative exchange, Moctezuma will lead a Conversation with the Artists on Thursday, May14 from 6-8 p.m.
"Instructions for Unrest: Art Against Complacency" brings together artists who view art as a tool to disrupt and to sound an alert. Emerging from a moment of heightened political and social tension, the exhibition reflects on a year marked by widespread protest and renewed public resistance to policies that have caused national and global instability. In the United States and across the world, people have taken to the streets in response to political extremism, social inequity, environmental crisis, and the erosion of civil rights. Artists, too, have responded using their practices to question power, confront injustice, and refuse silence.
The exhibition examines the role of art as a catalyst for awareness and action. Through diverse materials and approaches, the featured works expose systems of power, challenge historical amnesia, and confront our impulse to look away. Some artworks mourn loss, others invite participation, and still others demand accountability. Together, they insist that artistic expression can function as a form of civic engagement and resistance.
Curator Alessandra Moctezuma frames unrest as a necessary friction that makes change possible. The exhibition invites viewers to look inward, and examine their own position and experiences within the social and political structures the works reveal. Produced by Space 4 Art and presented at Art Produce Gallery, the exhibition is part of ongoing efforts to support artists and activate cultural dialogue across the region through the Prebys Foundation’s Arts Ecosystem Grant.
The exhibit includes artists: Doris Bittar, Jennifer de Poyen, Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT), Patricia Frischer, Terri Hughes-Oelrich, Linda Litteral, Nicole Gonzalez, Nick McPherson (Nicholas Danger), Teresa Mill, Michelle Montjoy, Marcos Ramirez, Katie Ruiz, and Claudia Biezunski-Rodriguez (Sew Loka).
The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Saturday, April 18 from 4-7 p.m. and a closing event featuring a gallery walk-through and artist conversation led by curator Alessandra Moctezuma on Thursday, May 14 from 6-8 p.m. Gallery hours Fridays from 1-7 p.m.; Saturdays from 12-6 p.m. through May 14; and by appointment. Location: Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92104.
About Space 4 Art
Space 4 Art is a San Diego-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to supporting artists and strengthening the region’s cultural ecosystem through exhibitions, public programming, and community engagement.
Art Produce Gallery
Purchased and rehabbed in 1999, Art Produce was once a boarded up building that had housed the North Park Produce market. Art Produce is now a non-profit community cultural center that connects artists, cultural organizations, schools, urban farmers and businesses. We support cultural production, mentor community engagement by artists and provide affordable cultural activities in a community setting. Our mission is to build community and foster civic engagement through arts, education and public culture. Art Gallery: The Gallery is entirely visible from the sidewalk and was designed to accommodate sculptural installations, cross-disciplinary works, digital media and performance events. The space allows for unconventional presentation opportunities for artists and unexpected art encounters for viewers. Intended to enliven the experience of the pedestrian it is an experiment in public art that is accessible to everyone in the community - an attempt to render visibility and transparency into the art process itself. Garden: The Garden is a public art, performance space and cultural space focused on aesthetic, educational and sustainable/green practices. It was transformed from an asphalt parking lot into an edible garden and orchard and now hosts film screenings, performances, art installations and community events. It incorporates an outdoor classroom and workspace into an urban garden that includes a rainwater catchment system and a PV solar energy system. Stone Paper Scissors Studio: Stone Paper Scissors, owned by Lynn Susholtz, has been creating art projects for public agencies, schools, business associations and communities since 1994. Previous projects have included the planning of public spaces, developing public arts initiatives for neighborhoods, collaborating with design teams, integrating art into capital projects and fabricating sculptural works.
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