(LOS ANGELES, CA) — Artist Erin Cooney is pleased to announce the opening of Aire Libre at the Torrance Art Museum from March 29 through May 24, 2025. An opening reception will be held Saturday, March 29, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, featuring a special live performance by CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Company and vocalist Carmina Escobar at 7:00 PM.
Aire Libre examines the critical issue of air and soil pollution in Los Angeles County, highlighting its disproportionate impact on lower-income communities of color living amid heavy industry, infrastructure, and polluting facilities like Exide Technologies, which has contaminated the soil with heavy metals such as lead and is associated with higher rates of cancer in nearby communities. This powerful exhibition merges art with activism to create awareness about environmental injustice while celebrating community resistance and resilience.
The installation is the result of a collaborative effort led by artist Erin Cooney that includes East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Company, poet Rocío Carlos, and vocalists Carmina Escobar and Joung-A Monica Yum.
CONTRA-TIEMPO’s dance performances in Aire Libre materialize the interconnectedness of our bodies with the air we breathe and the ground we tread. The vocal performances by Escobar and Yum convey the profound emotions of communities long affected by environmental harm overlooked by corporations and government officials. Poet Rocío Carlos has crafted the exhibition’s script by combining original poetry with oral histories from East Yard community members who have experienced toxic exposure.
Aire Libre features East Yard community members and CONTRA-TIEMPO dancers performing at various locations, including the iconic 6th Street Bridge in Boyle Heights, Bandini Park beneath the 710 freeway in Vernon, the residential streets of East LA, and the concrete banks of the LA River. The footage documents a range of environments—from transportation hubs including ports, freeways, and rail yards, to industrial zones comprising warehouse complexes, refineries, and oil derricks—as well as the residential areas and parks situated within these industrial and manufacturing landscapes.
In addition to its presentation at the Torrance Art Museum, Aire Libre will be publicly projected onto various industrial sites within affected communities represented by East Yard. These guerrilla-style projections will aim to shine a light on the perpetrators of environmental harm while symbolically reclaiming and reoccupying these spaces of extraction through the vibrant presence of dancers’ bodies and the faces of community members.
Exhibition Details:
Title: Aire Libre
Dates: March 29 – May 24, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 29, 2025, 6:00-9:00 PM
Special Performance: CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Company and Vocalist Carmina Escobar at 7:00 PM during opening reception
Location: Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503
Admission: Free and open to the public
