As a family artist collective based in Boyle Heights, Kalli Arte Collective expresses emotion through various forms of artwork.

In celebration of their first grandchild, the collective presents “Our Sun Will Rise,” an exhibition centered on love and the culmination of California State University Northridge’s first Virginia A. Orndorff Artist-in-Residence program.

The exhibition will run from Saturday, May 3 to Thursday, May 22 at the CSUN West Gallery at 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge. A reception will be held on Saturday, May 3 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“Kalli Arte is the inaugural Virginia A. Orndorff Artist In-Residence. This is a new program in the Department of Art & Design,” said Holly Jerger, CSUN Art Galleries Director. “They have been working with students in a number of different ways such as talks, workshops and opening their campus studio.”

“Love is on our horizon. As we move forward, we carry the memories of our past, shaping the path ahead,” said Alfonso Aceves and Adriana Carranza, founders of Kalli Arte. “Our residency exhibition is a conversation about love; love for our 20 years of making art together as a family, love for our children and grandchildren and love for the communities that surround us. It is a reflection on what it means to sustain this love and how we can continue to push it forward.”

Kalli Arte collaborated with students in the spring 2025 Art 342/542 Exhibition Design class to produce Our Sun Will Rise. Attendees can expect a broad range of pieces such as ceramics, printmaking and cut paper work. The students also worked closely with the Chair of the Department of Art & Design Samantha Fields, Professor of Art 342/542 Mario Ontiveros, and the Art Galleries staff, Jerger said.

“Kalli Arte finds joy and inspiration in resilience and community. Their work is very symbolic, very rich in its color and intensive detail. It is very visually dynamic,” said Jerger. “They often incorporate text into their works. It is a multi-layered exploration of ideas, and I think folks will have a lot of ways that they can experience the art and construct their own stories as well.”

The Department of Art & Design, part of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication, provides students with opportunities to grow their experience and skills in areas of concentration such as animation, art education, ceramics, drawing, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and more.

To learn more about Our Sun Will Rise, visit https://news.csun.edu/event/our-sun-will-rise/.