“The Outsider From the Other Side” is a complete in-person mixed-media art installation at the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery located on the San Luis Obispo Cuesta College campus.

Until Oct. 11, this group exhibition connects Cuesta to Tijuana, Mexico through visual media such as stencil graffiti, photography and sculptures. Cultivated by nine artists from Tijuana, this gallery shows their work as influenced by the U.S. and Mexico cultural fusion. This intermingling of two countries influences those in the region to feel they are in a world of its own and fueling a sense of living on the outside as their community cannot relate to just one side of the border. 

DADA, a visual artist in the exhibition, described Tijuana during the artist panel on Aug. 28 as an “airport” because  “people do not set roots in Tijuana, it’s a trampoline.” 

He shows the flow of people through the border in a 116-inch by 109-inch mural in the gallery as a natural transition similar to when a deer is seen wandering around its habitat. According to DADA, traveling between Tijuana and San Diego is vital to the cities’ modern lifestyles. It has helped define a generation of artists who have put down roots in this region of dual experience and embraced the unique perspective it brings to life.

The exhibition curator Damariz Aispuro is set to come to the gallery and meet with Timothy Stark, the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery coordinator, on Oct. 1 for an artist talk. She will provide describe how being an outsider has shaped her work and how she feels it is encapsulated in the exhibition’s pieces. Stark describes the work in this gallery as raw, honest and full of quality that will inspire every student through the smaller elements of color and with the larger elements like the stories conveyed. 

Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. Admission is free to the public.