La Mudanza: Seeds from Our Past

Opened: April 17, 2025

La Mudanza: Seeds from Our Past presented the migration story and artistic evolution of Chicago-based Puerto Rican artist Reynaldo “Guaracibo” Rodríguez. Blending painting, sculpture, upcycled fashion, and installation, the exhibition explored themes of ancestry, spirituality, environmental stewardship, and resilience. Works created during and after the COVID-19 pandemic employed cardboard and found objects to build layered reliefs, demonstrating how resourcefulness can become an aesthetic principle.

Iconography drawn from Taíno petroglyphs, Afro-Caribbean spiritual traditions, jíbaro rural heritage, and bomba rhythms threaded across the installation, inviting viewers to read images as constellations of memory and meaning. The design fostered an intimate encounter with materials—creased cardboard, hand‑stitched textiles, and painted surfaces—so audiences could see the labor embedded in each piece. The exhibition also dialogued with Rodríguez’s public mural, Seeds from Our Past, in Paseo Boricua, extending the gallery’s narrative into the urban landscape.

For Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, La Mudanza affirmed art as a vehicle for healing and continuity across generations. For broader audiences, it offered an entry point into Puerto Rican culture through the lens of diasporic making and sustainability.

The exhibition underscores PRAA’s commitment to contemporary diasporic voices and resonates with artist-centered surveys such as Persistence|Persistencia (2024).