At the U.S.-Mexico border, she has led collaborative mural projects that merge art, storytelling and activism, while portraying childhood arrivals, deported veterans, DACA recipients and multigenerational families impacted by undocumented status and deportation.<\/p>\n
Her new exhibition, \u201cHumanizar Historias<\/a>,\u201d opened Feb. 26 at Arte Am\u00e9ricas<\/a>. The show explores four mural projects, the stories behind them, and the community-based methods that shaped their creation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through behind-the-scenes photographs, process documentation, firsthand testimonies, and interactive elements, the exhibition traces how the murals became a response to the instability of immigrant life in the U.S.<\/p>\n De La Cruz Santana described growing hostility towards undocumented people and communities of color, including U.S. citizens, raising questions about who is allowed to remain within the country\u2019s borders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amid escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric, the exhibition confronts viewers with the human toll of deportation, laying bare the emotional and political realities of exile in a system that renders people disposable.<\/p>\n \u201cI never said or questioned the fact that I would do this work, because I think it\u2019s my duty to do so, I\u2019ve been granted this opportunity,\u201d De La Cruz Santana said. \u201cPeople trust me to tell their stories through different mediums and genres like storytelling, portraits, but then to also use my positionality, as a U.S. citizen and an academic. This is the heart of my work, my research and my community engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she began this work in 2016, during President Donald Trump\u2019s first administration, and is now presenting the exhibit at the height of his second term, a political moment that has pushed her to lean even further into the work.<\/p>\n Through the exhibit, she intentionally thought about how it offers a counternarrative that centers immigrant voices and refuses their erasure.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said she worked with Arte Am\u00e9ricas to thoughtfully consider who was represented and why, while putting safety measures in place to ensure the exhibit is a space where immigrant communities feel protected and visitors can challenge their own assumptions.<\/p>\n On view through the end of June, it calls for participation, not passive observation, urging visitors to ask: How does this affect my community? And what role will I choose to play?<\/p>\n The first mural project\u2019s inception<\/p>\n Born in Torrance in 1991 and raised between Compton and Jalisco, Mexico, De La Cruz Santana grew up as a child of immigrants. She then moved to Fresno at 15, attending Hoover high school and later Fresno State, where she earned a master\u2019s degree in Spanish Latin American Literatures and Cultures. She went on to complete a Ph.D. in the same field at UC Davis.<\/p>\n She joined UC Davis\u2019 Humanizing Deportation Project<\/a> in August 2016, helping build what is now the world\u2019s largest qualitative archive of migrant deportation experiences \u2014 a bilingual collection of more than 500 audiovisual testimonials created by over 400 community storytellers.<\/p>\n That work led her to field research at Playas de Tijuana three months later, where the border wall meets the Pacific Ocean. These experiences culminated in her doctoral dissertation and later in her most recognized work, the Playas de Tijuana Mural Project<\/a> (2019-2021), a fellowship initiative that began at the westernmost point of the U.S.-Mexico border.\u00a0<\/p>\n The project features 15 large, gray scale portraits made out of cloth, painted in an improvised art studio and migrant shelter. They were then installed on the rusted vertical steel columns that make up the border fence, alongside more than 300 QR codes linking to digital testimonies from childhood arrivals, including DACA recipients who were later detained or deported.<\/p>\n The exhibition traces the timelines of De La Cruz Santana\u2019s research and mural projects, featuring photos of the border before the murals as \u201ca potential site for public testimony,\u201d but more broadly as an archive of stories that continues to grow.<\/p>\n She also wanted to reveal how her academic mind engaged with these projects. To do this, the exhibit includes a yellow desk scattered with research books, mural notebooks, her laptop, and a water bottle, alongside photographs of those collaborating on the murals. On either side of the desk, bookshelves hold additional books and binders filled with research papers, emphasizing the depth and process behind her work.<\/p>\n \u201cHer bibliography of research is a testament to the years of immigration policy and systems that have failed swaths of communities,\u201d said Arianna Paz Ch\u00e1vez, executive director of Arte Am\u00e9ricas. \u201cIt\u2019s not about this one moment. The border is never the same. It can take many shapes, as high as 30 feet. But these stories show that relationships exist on both sides of the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n The exhibition also highlights Jairo Lozano<\/a> as the first portrait installed in 2019. He grew up in Sanger, depicted wearing a cap and gown, an image that deliberately alludes to the Dreamer who seeks education and who has persevered, often against immense odds. His portrait was painted by volunteers in the historic Casa del Tunel in Tijuana.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s literally saying this is what someone from the Central Valley could do if we nurture our students,\u201d De La Cruz Santana said. \u201cIt\u2019s just seeing the value that we all have to contribute and empower our youth, especially with the recent walkouts. Instead of criminalizing and punishing them, let\u2019s sit at the table with them and see how we can get to the same space or come together to do something to benefit everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n De La Cruz Santana and lead artist Mauro Carrera provided tools and guidance that enabled participants (storytellers, students, volunteers, and community members) to work as artists themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that even people who may be documented that cannot go to Mexico, or people who are deported but far away, but still want to tell a story, that they have someone representing them and helping draw, paint their portrait and then installing it,\u201d De La Cruz Santana said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the process of teaching others, De La Cruz Santana herself became a muralist, learning the craft alongside those she mentored.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other murals on display<\/p>\n De La Cruz Santana\u2019s exhibit fills the entire Arte Am\u00e9ricas\u2019 exhibit space, with some sections reflecting one of her four mural project\u2019s locations and signs for viewers to experience Playas De Tijuana and Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n In the Deported Veterans Diaspora Mural Project<\/a> (2024), she collaborated with James Smith, co-founder of Black Deported Veterans of America<\/a>, to highlight the stories of non-citizen veterans who served in the U.S. military but were later deported.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the exhibit, photographs of deported U.S. Navy veterans are displayed around the section. In one area, red, white and blue papel picado hangs upside down to depict a distressed American flag with \u201cSOS\u201d inscribed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Below is a photo of Alex Gomez with a label that reads: Muri\u00f3 en el Exilio or Died in Exile.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s also interactive elements spread across sections. One is called \u2018Hasta Que Alguien Eschuche\u2019 or \u2018Until Someone Listens\u2019 that invites viewers to write on sticky notes with their own stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mural participants also created portraits of family members across generations affected by undocumented status and deportation, underscoring how contemporary immigration policies impact not just individuals, but their families and communities as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a specific generation that has grown up in this country, has decided to resist being deported, and while waiting for something to happen, are living their life and changing the narrative by saying undocumented people are literally contributing to this community,\u201d De La Cruz Santana said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She wanted people to see how both coasts are connected through these murals and for viewers to begin to break down what a border is, and at the end of the day, see the humanity behind it.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Fresno, a mural is installed at Rubio Ranchwear on the corner of Fulton and Belmont. But De La Cruz Santana said securing a location was difficult, as many local businesses hesitated to publicly highlight undocumented people amid concerns about how it would be perceived under the new administration.<\/p>\n \u201cThis moment is so crucial, saying through these stories and mural that we\u2019re also supporting the rebirth of a place in Fresno which has most likely been forgotten and abandoned,\u201d De La Cruz Santana said. \u201cLet\u2019s bring it back to life and give it another shot at being a community in a space where people go and play music or buy Chicano clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Creating the murals and bringing the project to your community\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9493.jpg\")
The back of the reproduction of Jairo Lozano\u2019s, representing the U.S. side, with a restricted area warning sign. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/playas-de-tijuana.jpg\")
Photographs of Playas de Tijuana Mural Project (2019-2021), a fellowship initiative that began at the westernmost point of the U.S.-Mexico border. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9473.jpg\")
A recreation of De La Cruz Santana\u2019s desk, packed with her personal books, notebooks, and other supplies used to study and facilitate her mural projects. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9522.jpg\")
A photo of Alex Gomez, who died in exile, hangs in the Deported Veterans Diaspora Mural Project section. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9602.jpeg\")
In Fresno, a mural part of the Bicoastal U.S. Childhood Arrivals Mural Project located at Rubio Ranchwear on the corner of Fulton and Belmont. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9462.jpg\")
The art studio section of De La Cruz Santana\u2019s exhibit where viewers are invited to create their own protest signs. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_9457.jpg\")
A gallery room offers a quiet space in honor of veterans affected by deportation. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n