Traveling exhibit of art made ‘under terrible conditions’ heads to Modesto

A traveling exhibit featuring art by teenagers who were held at a Texas detention center will make a stop in Modesto.

“Uncaged Art” will be on display throughout February at Picasso’s Gourmet Deli in downtown, according to a press release from the Modesto Art Museum, which has brought in the exhibit.

The art is by teens who were held at the Tornillo Detention Center from June 2018 to January 2019, according to the release.

The artists, ages 13 to 17 from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and other countries, were among 6,000 teenagers who lived in tents, separated from their families, the release said.

“’Uncaged Art’ is a joyful expression of the human spirit under terrible conditions,” Modesto Art Museum curator Bob Barzan said in the press release.

Teachers working at the camp invited the children to create works of art, instructing them to think of their home communities.

“When the Tornillo Center was dismantled in January 2019, Father Rafael Garcia didn’t want the art to be thrown away and forgotten” the release said. “From the art he saved, this small traveling exhibit representing hundreds of drawings and paintings created at the camp was organized by the Immigration Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin.”

“Uncaged Art” will be on display Feb. 3 through March 3 at Picasso’s, 963 10th St., Modesto, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more, see modestoartmuseum.org/uncaged-art.