Montgomery College’s Immersive Hispanic Heritage Art Exhibit Opens to the Public, Runs Through October 30

Nuestros Caminos y Huellas (Our Journeys and Footprints), an immersive art installation exploring migration, family separation, resilience and hope, is now open to the public at Montgomery College’s Cafritz Arts Center. The exhibition, which anchors the College’s Hispanic Heritage Month programming, will remain on display through October 30.

Moving beyond traditional heritage celebrations, Nuestros Caminos y Huellas offers a space to pause, reflect and engage with the lived realities of the Hispanic and Latino immigrant community. Curated by acclaimed local artists Quique Avilés and Samuel Miranda, the interactive gallery brings to light stories that are often carried unseen by millions across the nation.

Visitors can walk through conceptual installations built from found objects, view “La acera de donde se los llevaron,” an installation featuring objects left behind on an immigrant’s journey, leave messages in response to the art and crank a vintage sewing machine that questions the borders that divide communities.

The artwork draws deeply from personal journeys and community traditions. Avilés, whose multidisciplinary pieces ground the exhibit, uses objects gathered along his own path to tell these stories.

“The items you see in this gallery—the worn shoes, the stenciled Salvadoran roof tiles, the scattered belongings—are gathered along the path of survival,” said Avilés, a Washington, D.C.-based Salvadoran poet, performer and community activist who has spent nearly four decades addressing social realities, identity and the immigrant experience through performance and literature. “Gathering these objects mirrors the immigrant experience itself—carrying what is deeply valuable, finding what is needed to survive along the way and leaving pieces of yourself behind without ever knowing if the journey will lead you back home.” 

As a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) where nearly 30 percent of the student population identifies as Hispanic, Montgomery College sponsored the exhibit to honor the sacrifices that inspired countless students to pursue their dreams.  

“This space is an invitation to step into someone else’s shoes and acknowledge our shared humanity,” said Carolina Galeano, event organizer and co-lead for Montgomery College’s Hispanic Heritage Month planning committee. “We wanted to create a reflective space that honors the depth of our community’s story and allows us to witness something meaningful together.” 

Nuestros Caminos y Huellas is free and open to the public. The exhibition is open daily through October 30 in the Cafritz Arts Center's Aux Gallery on Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, located at 930 King St., Silver Spring, MD 20910.     

Learn about other Hispanic Heritage Month events at Montgomery College.