Jake Prendez
2019 Arc Fellow
Jake Prendez celebrates Chicanx and Indigenous cultures through activism, satire, social justice, and pop culture.
About the Artist
Jake Prendez is a renowned Chicano artist, public speaker, curator and gallery owner displaying his work in exhibitions around the country. Jake creates art with a specific focus on themes relating to Chicanx and Indigenous culture, activism, social justice, pop culture, and satire. Jake now resides in Seattle and hosts the Pop Up Mercado, lectures around the country, leads the Próxima Generación: Youth Residency Project and is the owner/director of the Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in White Center. The Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery is a multi-use space, hosting art exhibitions, a gift shop for artists and artisans, as well as a community space for events such as spoken word, music and arts related lectures and workshops. Nepantla is a Nahuatl (Aztec language) term which describes being in the middle or the space in the middle. Most often the term references endangered communities, cultures or gender who due to colonialism/marginalization or historical trauma, which engage in resistance strategies of survival. Nepantla becomes the alternative space in which to live, heal, function and create.
Current Work
Jake is hard at work curating and programming his community-based Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery. The grand opening was February 2, 2019 and he is currently exhibiting Chingonas, which is an all-women’s art exhibition. Jake is an active member in the arts and Latinx communities and currently serves on the Board of Directors of La Sala and the Colectiva Noroeste. He also recently joined 4Culture Arts Advisory Committee, to help ensure artists have a voice at the 4Culture table. Jake’s own artwork is currently a part of Nuestra Latinidad, a group exhibition at Centro de Artes in San Antonio, and in group exhibitions across Seattle including, yəhaw̓ at King Street Station, and Unidos Levantamos El Cielo at the Vermilion Gallery.
