Chiara Watson

The art is inspired by Rolando Palacio’s experiences growing up and the sense of nostalgia he felt when visiting this community in Detroit.

A new exhibition has come to the Bernice Coulter Templeton Gallery located at 1415 E. Vaughn Street near campus. ‘Una Vida Linda’ an installation by Rolando Palacio will be showing from Oct. 16 to Jan. 14 

The gallery itself is open for visitors Monday to Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Students and faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to come and enjoy the exhibition.  

First-year psychology major Daniela Florido is new to the school and was not aware of the art gallery on campus but showed interest in seeing what it had to offer.  

“I would be interested to go to the exhibition,” Florido said.  

Some students are looking forward to seeing the art as they have a lot of respect for Palacio as an artist. 

Junior mass communication major Brooklyn Boyd said, “I think he’s a phenomenal artist with a lot of culture and perspective under his belt.” 

Born to Mexican immigrant parents, Palacio went from working in fields as a 7-year-old boy with other migrant farm workers, to attending Universities like Michigan State and the University of Michigan. He often felt himself trying to find his place between two worlds.  

Palacio said, “I had played a role as the messenger between two separate worlds.”

His art became the bridge between his two identities. The images, shot in a Latinx community in Detroit, are a photo-installation inspired by the artist’s life and exists as a living and growing collection that tells the story of generations.  

“Hanging out with different generations of Latinos in Detroit made me understand kind of the coexistence of all the generations and the influences of how they mingle with each other,” Palacio said.

Palacio encourages students to see the exhibition and hopes they will be able to connect their own experiences to the art.  

“Large majority of the students here are first generation, you know, they go to college, they’re Latino,” Palacio said. “So, I wanted them to kind of look at this and be like they can relate to this.”