As the country prepares to celebrate Independence Day, I invite you to consider another vital expression of liberty: art.
At the Delaware beaches, small independent art shows are shaping culture in quiet, persistent, and profound ways. This week, we highlight It Was Never Your Fault (Nunca Fue Tu Culpa), a deeply personal exhibition by visual artist Itzel Aguilar. Through mixed media works that channel Indigenous memory, trauma, and resilience, Aguilar reclaims space for voices often excluded from the American narrative.
Rooted in Mexican heritage, Aguilar’s work pushes back against silence and invisibility. Each piece serves as a declaration – of survival, of healing, and of belonging. It Was Never Your Fault speaks to wounds carried across generations – and to the power of art to name them, hold them, and transmute them.
Born of both Puerto Vallarta and Delaware, Aguilar represents the kind of complex creativity that defines modern American art. She began her formal training at the Delaware College of Art and Design in 2009, and her artistic voice has since evolved through a self-taught, intuitive practice grounded in self-exploration and cultural heritage.
Art has always been a cornerstone of American culture – not only in the iconic images hung in institutions, but also in the community-rooted work that grows in studios, garages, and makeshift galleries. Especially here, in small beach towns like ours, these local exhibitions do more than fill a wall. They build connection. They reclaim narratives. They offer healing. They remind us that freedom includes the ability to tell our own stories, on our own terms.
This Independence Day, let us celebrate the full spectrum of what makes America – not just its historical documents, but the living, breathing expressions of artists like Itzel Aguilar. The ones who remind us that resilience is revolutionary. That memory matters. And that true freedom must include space for every story.
Don’t Miss This
Itzel Aguilar: Art Show Opening
July 4, 5 to 9 p.m.
The Artpothecary, 37401 Malloy St., West Rehoboth
It Was Never Your Fault (Nunca Fue Tu Culpa) will feature mixed media works that explore heritage, healing, and resilience.
