Allen After Hours / Artist Talk with Mercedes Dorame

Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Centering the role of waterways in connecting people to their ancestors and their identity, Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame will give a talk describing her practice, including the artwork commissioned for the exhibition, The land is a being who remembers everything. This exhibition re-interprets the museum’s American art collection with a focus on Indigenous sovereignty and Oberlin’s abolitionist history. Situated within these themes, Dorame’s work often addresses issues of (in)visibility and cultural (de)construction.

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Registration is encouraged but not required

*Enjoy 10% off regular-priced menu items and merchandise at participating Oberlin businesses on the day of this event by showing your registration confirmation email. Get more details.

Access statement: This event will be held in a wheelchair- and rolling walker-accessible building. The lecture space is wheelchair accessible, with moveable seating. Restrooms are gender-specific and wheelchair-accessible. Listening devices will be available for use during the presentation, but ASL interpretation is currently not scheduled for this event. Most talks will be recorded and available with closed captions on the museum’s YouTube page after the event. Please email access questions to Jill Greenwood, jgreenwo@oberlin.edu.

Photo by Cassia Davis. © J Paul Getty Trust 2023

Image description: A portrait of Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame wearing a dark graphic T-shirt and star-shaped earrings. Dorame looks directly at the camera with a calm, thoughtful expression. The colorful backdrop, with its bold blues, oranges, and white radiating forms, echoes themes of land, water, and sky that are central to the artist's practice.