Latin, Hispanic Native American artists collective offers exhibit for Hispanic Heritage Month

As the start of Hispanic Heritage Month nears on Sept. 15, the artists of SOYXSOY (pronounced soy como soy), a Savannah-based collective of Latin, Native American artists is preparing Cielo y Tierra, its third annual exhibit at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center.

"We are turning this whole gallery upside down," said Adriana Iris Boatwright, a founding member. "Savannah has allowed us something that they've never done before, and we've almost have taken residency here at the cultural art center. For the past month we've been creating this exhibit, which is sky and earth, or heaven and earth."

José Ray, a founding member, said he hoped people would get lost in the concept, which invited audiences to explore the intricate relationships between the celestial and terrestrial through the eyes of the 20 artists in the collective.

"We don't want there to be a single narrative, especially with us being a collective, we have a lot of different perspectives and narratives," Ray said. "So, you can take it literally with land and the sky, or more spiritual. We just want people to kind of make their own path through it, and it's kind of a little fun house."

Boatwright, Ray and Alexis Javier, another founding member, all said they really wanted the experience to be immersive, and showcase the talents of those in the collective.

"This exhibition is really to bring the worlds together, from the sky to the ground and in-between," said Alexis Javier, another founding member. "Being that this space allows for things to hang from the sky and we're going to have these larger-than-life mushrooms that we're building out of these flowers, and you know, really creating an environment of bringing the outdoors into the gallery. We wanted to create this immersive experience that would set this exhibition apart from the previous two."

SOYXSOY was founded in 2022, and features artists from a variety of different disciplines like visual artists, actors, mixologists, DJs and more. Boatwright describes it as a one stop shop for all things creative for Latin and Native American artists, in a space aside from SCAD and other organizations.

The exhibit will open from 6 to 8 p.m., Sept. 13 and will feature Samba Savannah. Boatwright also mentioned that there will be an after party at the speakeasy in Mint to be Mojito, with drink specials and a DJ. The exhibit will be available for the public to view from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday through Nov. 9.

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Artists collective presents new exhibit for Hispanic Heritage Month