“Homecoming: Works by Cara Romero” Opens at County Museum
Chemehuevi Art Photographer reinterprets Native American Identity
The San Bernardino County Museum is pleased to present, Homecoming: Works by Cara Romero,
from May 12 through Aug. 14, 2022. Romero is a contemporary fine art photographer and an
enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe. She was raised between contrasting settings: the
rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, CA and the urban sprawl of Houston, TX, and
now works out of her studio in New Mexico.
The exhibit embraces photography as Romero’s tool to resist Eurocentric narratives and as a
means for opening audiences’ perspectives to the fascinating diversity of living Indigenous
peoples. Romero’s identity informs her photography, a blend of fine art and editorial
photography, shaped by years of study and a visceral approach to representing Indigenous and
non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences from a Native
American female perspective. By staging theatrical compositions infused with dramatic color,
Romero takes on the role of storyteller, using contemporary photography techniques to depict
the modernity of Native peoples, illuminating Indigenous worldviews and aspects
supernaturalism in everyday life.
According to Romero, “When we as Native people explore new artistic tools and techniques,
such as photography, we indigenize those media. Our vision and intimate relationship to our
communities are precisely what make Native photographers the people best equipped to convey
the allure, strength, and complexity of contemporary Native life.”
Museum Director Melissa Russo said, “Cara Romero’s work provides a brilliant perspective on
indigenous culture, the environment, justice, and modern society. As a female producing large
scale works, she establishes a fascinating variation on the genre of epic imagery, utilizing a
dramatic up tilt in many of her compositions, but incorporating an unexpected intimacy and
internal complexity in her subjects. The museum is delighted to present this remarkable show of
her work, and share her talent in San Bernardino County where she was raised.”
The San Bernardino County Museum’s exhibits of regional, cultural and natural history and the
Museum’s other exciting events and programs reflect the effort by the Board of Supervisors to
achieve the Countywide Vision by celebrating arts, culture, and education in the county, creating
quality of life for residents and visitors.
The San Bernardino County Museum is located at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, at the California Street
exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. General admission is $10 (adult), $8 (military or senior), $7 (student), and $5 (child ages
5 to 12). Children under five and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is
free. For more information, visit www.sbcounty.gov/museum. The museum is accessible to
persons with disabilities.
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