The Seed Keeper / El Guardián de las Semillas
march 27 - june 21, 2026
OMA WEST AT THE SEABIRD
Curated By Natalie Gonzales
SELECT WORKS
Inspired by Diane Wilson’s novel The Seed Keeper, this exhibition explores the concept of seeds as both a material presence and a powerful metaphor—an archive of memory, resilience, and future. Presented in collaboration with the Oceanside Public Library as part of the community-wide program The Big Read, the exhibition extends the novel’s themes into a visual and spatial experience. In Indigenous worldviews, seeds carry more than sustenance; they hold stories, languages, ancestral knowledge, and responsibilities passed orally from generation to generation.
Through diverse materials and practices, these Native American female artists act as contemporary seed keepers by preserving stories, traditions, and ways of knowing that have survived displacement, erasure, and transformation. Their works speak to continuity rather than nostalgia, emphasizing living cultures rooted in care, reciprocity, and resistance.
Inspirada en la novela The Seed Keeper de Diane Wilson, esta exhibición explora el concepto de las semillas tanto como presencia material y metáfora: un archivo de memoria, resiliencia y futuro. Presentada en colaboración con la Biblioteca Pública de Oceanside como parte del programa comunitario The Big Read, la muestra extiende los temas de la novela hacia una experiencia visual y espacial. En las cosmovisiones indígenas, las semillas contienen más que sustento; resguardan historias, lenguas, conocimientos ancestrales y responsabilidades transmitidas oralmente de generación en generación.
A través de diversos materiales y prácticas, estas artistas nativas americanas actúan como guardianas contemporáneas de las semillas, preservando relatos, tradiciones y formas de conocimiento que han sobrevivido al desplazamiento, el exterminio y la transformación. Sus obras hablan de continuidad más que de nostalgia, enfatizando culturas vivas arraigadas en el cuidado, la reciprocidad y la resistencia.
This exhibition is part of National Endowment for the Arts' The Big Read, in collaboration with Oceanside Public Library
VISIT
OMA West At The Seabird, an Annex Gallery of Oceanside Museum of Art, is located inside the Seabird Resort in downtown Oceanside, at 101 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92054. The gallery is on the ground floor towards the back of the building, accessed through the front of the hotel.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to learn more about the artwork on view please email OMA West Exhibition Coordinator Natalie Gonzalez, natalie@oma-online.org.