SaveArtSpace x Murmurs is proud to present I’ve Gone to Look for America, a group public art exhibition on billboard ad space in Los Angeles, CA, opening February 20, 2026, curated by Morgan Elder & Allison Littrell.
Our urban exhibition extends from questions posed in a 2023 show at Murmurs, I’ve Gone to Look for America, evolving its focus toward the current political climate of the United States in 2025— an America where belonging continues to be contested and where the promise of freedom collides with the reality of ICE raids sweeping in Los Angeles and across the country, censorship in media, and systematic defunding of arts and culture. This iteration interrogates the paradox at the heart of American identity: a nation that defines itself through the promise of liberty while sustaining systems of control that decide who is allowed to belong.
This exhibition centers artists of the diaspora— those who have immigrated, and those who are first-generation Americans— whose lives are shaped by the tension between rootedness and displacement. Through personal narratives, these artists navigate the complexities between identity and erasure, visibility and surveillance, the mythology of the “American Dream” and the lived experience of exclusion. Their works are acts of testimony telling the stories of migration, memory, and endurance.
I’ve Gone to Look for America is a submission-based exhibition that calls for work grounded in autobiographical and collective history. Together, these voices form a counter-narrative, one that resists disappearance, insists on complexity, and finds resilience through sculpture, painting, installation, video, and performance. These artists reimagine what “America” means.
I’ve Gone to Look for America, 2023 at Murmurs: www.murmurs.la/exhibitions/i-ve-gone-to-look-for-america
We invite artists of all ages and talents to submit their artwork between November 10, 2025 and January 5, 2026 in order to be considered for the exhibition.. This is an opportunity to have your work placed on billboard ad space in Los Angeles, CA.
The application fee is $19.99 for a single image; each additional image carries a $10 fee. Fees support the production of the exhibition, including the purchase of billboard ad space. All fees paid to SaveArtSpace are 100% tax deductible donations.
Selected artists will be announced after January 19, 2026. Public art will be on view starting February 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA, and will be on view for at least one month.
Curators
Morgan Elder is a Los Angeles–based contemporary art curator and cultural producer. A native of the city, she holds a BFA in Interdisciplinary Practices and Visual Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2019, she co-founded Murmurs, a multidisciplinary exhibition platform dedicated to supporting emerging and underrepresented artists. Through establishing galleries in both Los Angeles and Chicago, she has curated over thirty exhibitions in the last decade that explore art’s role in social change, consistently advocating for marginalized voices and fostering critical engagement with contemporary art. Her curatorial work has been featured in publications such as Artforum, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.
Connect with Morgan at @morgane_elder.
Allison Littrell is a curator and writer living in Los Angeles. She is the co-founder Murmurs Gallery and studied Art History, literature and curatorial practices at Bard (BA) and USC Roski (MA). Before founding Murmurs, Littrell headed arts magazines ALL-IN and Third. As a curator, she is passionate about the intersection of art and education, and creating new models for art spaces that engage community.
Connect with Allison at @allisonlittrell.
Participating Organizations
Murmurs is an art space located in downtown Los Angeles focused on championing experimental and emerging art practices. Murmurs exists to challenge what is expected of an art gallery by providing a new model of a multifaceted platform for modalities of expression that have the power to transform reality. The name Murmurs was chosen for its meaning — the collective undercurrents running through a society that are not obviously apparent. Murmurs has, from its conception in 2019, been dedicated to honoring the truths of our community and championing creative voices that are not being heard by other institutions. Our programming focuses on art practices that prioritize engagement over commodification such as site-specific installations, sculptures, performances, events and pop-up shops.
Connect with Murmurs at @murmurs.la.
Founded in 2015, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a message of social change that benefits the working class. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists.