El Pueblo 50 is a public exhibition celebrating 50 years of El Pueblo Neighborhood Center’s historic role as the living heart of the Southside.
Celebrate its launch with a day of community storytelling, mapping, craft, music, refreshments and more. Commemorate this historic center and imagine and vibrant 50 years.
Nov. 8
2-5p … Open House
5-9p … Reception
Detailed Schedule
Free Admission
El Pueblo Neighborhood Center (101 W. Irvington Road, Building 1)
RSVP Here
Celebrating the Living Heart of the Southside!
Home to some of Tucson’s oldest neighborhoods, the Southside is a place of safekeeping, of culture, of the environment, and of the collective power to shape intergenerational destinies. Established in 1975, the center is wrapped in murals and memory and home over the years to multiple agencies, offices, services and institutions. El Pueblo is the hub of reinvestment by multiple stakeholders committed to its revitalization. The center engages families and civil servants, educators and librarians, recreation and health workers. Through thematic panels, the exhibition narratives the center’s dynamic efforts to support community and environmental care and envisions El Pueblo’s role in shaping a more resilient Southside future..
The center’s first director was the late U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva. His daughter U.S. Rep-elect Adelita Grijalva will speak at the event, along with Mayor Regina Romero, Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz, District 5 Supervisor Andres Cano.
The exhibition will be on display from Nov. 8, 2025 – Jan. 18, 2026.
- Detailed Schedule for Nov. 8.
College of Fine Arts highlights
The partnership has been supported by Arts Research + Resilience grants (’23, ’24), co-administered by the College of Fine Arts (CFA) and the Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR). These grants use arts research methods to advance AIR’s mission of supporting interdisciplinary collaboration. AIRES themes within the FY22-FY24 TRIF/Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions (WEES) initiative cover a wide range of research area. Research including:
Arizona Arts exhibition collaborators
- Jessica Wolff (BFA ‘23, Studio Art), artist-in-residence, whose photography and collages will be a major feature of the exhibition
- Luis Fernando Gonzalez (BFA ’21, Film and Television), artist-in-residence, whose short films will be screened at the event
- Martina Shenal, professor in the School of Art’s Photography, Video, Imaging department, co-PI on Arts Research + Resilience grant, “Groundwater II: Water Justice Advocacy on the Santa Cruz,” co-author on the zine “Groundwater II” launching at the event
- Rebecca Senf, chief curator at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) co-PI on the El Pueblo 50 team, and member of the curatorial team for El Pueblo 50
- Denisse Brito, learning and engagement manager at CCP, partner in site engagements since inception, including the recent sobremesa connecting El Pueblo to the “Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectiva” exhibition
- Lizzy Guevara-Golden, former CCP photographic fellow, El Pueblo 50 exhibition designer, and designer of the “Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectivita”
- Emily Una Weirich, former CCP archivist and public services manager) supported archival tie-ins with El Pueblo-based courses
- Meg Jackson Fox, former associate curator for academic and public programs at CCP, established the partnership’s connection to CCP and CFA, which resulted in the inaugural exhibition, “¡Fiesta Fotográfica!”
University of Arizona highlights
- Through multiple themes, the exhibition tells the story of the site, co-curated by leaders and cultural stewards of the Southside’s predominantly Latiné and Native communities.
- Highlighting the innovative and unique multiyear interdisciplinary partnership with University of Arizona and numerous partners …
- College of Humanities – Department of Public & Applied Humanities
- College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
- College of Fine Arts
- Arizona Institute of Resilience (AIR)
- Sunnyside Foundation, leader of Southside community advocacy and reinvestment.
- The partnership has brought over 700 students and community partners engaged through over 13 interdisciplinary courses and related events through the years.
- In 2023, Sunnyside High School had the most students apply and get accepted to the U of A of any high school in the nation with 193 Sunnyside students enrolling. Most of those students are the first in their families to attend college.
- The partnership connected the students and campus to multiple city, district, and federal offices, who are involved in current re-investment to this historic site. The late Congressman Raúl Grijalva himself played a foundational role in inspiring the initiative and was a classroom guest in courses along with many of the distinguished officials named above.
Media Coverage
- Storytelling & photography exhibit show ‘rich history’ of El Pueblo Neighborhood Center … Tucson Sentinel by Bianca Morales (05.03.23)
- ¡Fiesta Fotografica! celebrates the importance of El Pueblo Neighborhood Center … KOLD 13 by Emilee Miranda (05.07.23)
- Fiesta Fotographica in Tucson … KVOA 4 by Eric Fink (05.06.23)
- Resilience Blooms in the Desert … Arizona Alumni magazine by Margaret Regan (fall 2023)
| El Pueblo 50 is a collaboration between the Sunnyside Foundation, the Office of Congressman Raúl Grijalva and the University of Arizona, including the College of Fine Arts (CFA), College of Humanities (COH) & Department of Public and Applied Humanities (PAH), Center for Creative Photography (CCP), and College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA).
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El Pueblo 50 is made possible by support provided by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund/Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions Initiative (TRIF/WEESI) administered by the University of Arizona Office of Research and Partnerships (ORP) and Arizona Institute of Resilience (AIR); City of Tucson Parks and Recreation; City of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero; Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz Ward 1; Council Member Rocque Perez Ward 5; Pima County District 5 Supervisor Andres Cano.
