New Exhibition Explores Albuquerque’s “Big I” as a Crossroads of Culture, Memory, and Movement
At the East of My Past and the West of My Future” opens May 28 at South Broadway Cultural Center Gallery.
A new group art exhibition opens at the South Broadway Cultural Center Gallery, a satellite gallery of the Albuquerque Museum, with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 28. Curated by multidisciplinary artist Watermelon7, At the East of My Past and the West of My Future will be on view through July 17. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.
Featuring work from 14 artists, the exhibition transforms Albuquerque’s iconic Big I interchange into a powerful symbol of movement, identity, memory, and transformation. Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and U.S. Route 66, the exhibition examines the intersections of individual and shared journeys through the lens of Albuquerque’s evolving cultural landscape.
“Just as Robert Johnson’s Delta blues lamented the weight of decision at the crossroads, so too does this exhibition dwell on those pivotal, haunting moments when personal and collective histories meet the unknown,” explains Watermelon7. “The Big I, reimagined through each artist’s lens, emerges as a symbolic portal where ghosts of travelers past mingle with visions of future possibility.”
Raised between Michigan and Isleta Pueblo, Watermelon7 brings a layered perspective to the exhibition. Of Isleta Pueblo, Diné, Sapponi, and African American heritage, his work spans muralism, graffiti art, music, dance, and collaborative community-based arts practices. Since immersing himself in graffiti culture in the early 1990s, Watermelon7 has used art as a vehicle for social dialogue, cultural connection, and storytelling across communities.
Each artist incorporates the Big I into their work, transforming the interchange into a meditation on passage, place, and identity. The exhibition draws connections between Albuquerque’s South Broadway neighborhood, the historic legacy of Route 66, and the city’s contemporary creative energy. Themes of ancestry, youth movements, ethical realities, spirituality, and cultural resilience emerge throughout the exhibition’s paintings, mixed-media works, and installations.
South Broadway Cultural Center Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.