Millbrook Art Museum's New 'Borderlands' Exhibition Explores Identity Through Mixed Media

MILLBROOK, June 2 — Borderlands: Art at the Edge of Identity officially opened Saturday at the Millbrook Regional Art Museum on Clement Boulevard, featuring work from 14 artists — seven of them local — spanning photography, sculpture, video installation, and hand-stitched textile art. The exhibition, curated by museum director Felicia Osman, drew roughly 600 visitors on opening day alone, a figure the museum called its best single-day attendance since the 2019 retrospective on regional landscape painters.

Local Voices at the Center

Among the standout pieces is What My Grandmother Carried, a textile installation by Millbrook-based artist Ines Caldera that fills an entire gallery wall with hand-embroidered imagery representing her family's journey from Central America. Visitors on Saturday were seen lingering in front of the piece for extended periods, and several wiped away tears. 'I wanted people who had never moved a single mile in their life to feel what displacement costs,' Caldera said at the opening reception. Also drawing strong reactions is a video triptych by Chicago-based artist DeShawn Morris, which places archival immigration footage alongside contemporary cell phone recordings from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Running Through August

The exhibition runs through August 17th, with a full slate of programming planned around it, including community panels, youth workshops, and a ticketed closing-night gala. Admission to the museum remains free every first Sunday of the month, and the museum has partnered with Millbrook Unified School District to arrange field trips for middle school students throughout June and July.

• Exhibition dates: June 1 – August 17
• Free first Sundays; general admission $12, students $6
• Youth workshops Saturdays at 10 a.m. through July
• Closing gala: August 16, tickets $75