Juan Carlos Escobedo's exhibition "Curas: Males de Corazón" ("Remedies: Ailments of the Heart") opens June 12 through July 26 at the Art Students League of Denver (ASLD). The show features cardboard sculptures and mixed-media works exploring inherited familial and cultural knowledge, reflecting on non-Western traditions that view emotional, physical, and spiritual pain as interconnected. Escobedo, this year's ASLD Color Scheme resident, is the child of Mexican parents and grew up near El Paso; his practice uses cardboard as a medium that parallels his own identity struggles.
This exhibition matters because it highlights how community-supported residencies like ASLD's Color Scheme program provide vital space for artists of color to develop work without capitalist pressures. Escobedo's use of humble materials like cardboard challenges traditional art hierarchies and speaks to broader issues of identity, migration, and cultural healing. The article also underscores the financial challenges facing nonprofit arts organizations like ASLD, which have lost significant funding but continue to rely on individual community support.