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Felixberto Camacho Flores was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1949

When Felixberto Camacho Flores was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1949, he was only the fourth CHamoru ever. For the next two decades he served in many roles within the local Catholic church including as the priest of Asan, the editor for the religious newspaper “Umatuna Si Yuus” and the superintendent of Guam’s Catholic schools.  

In 1970 he was installed as the Bishop in Guam, the first CHamoru to achieve this position. This image is of the newly consecrated Bishop visiting the graves of his parents Leon Flores and Ana Camacho Flores at Pigo Ceremony. According to a news account from the time, he offered this silent prayer to them:

“Dear mother and beloved father, I beg you to forgive me for all my shortcomings and imperfections. You have always lived in me, and as you have brought forth an Apostle of Christ this day, this humble son and Apostle before you now – a mortal with feet of clay, blesses your grave, your memory, and your soul with compassion – that today you shall both live forever.”

In 1984, Flores would become the first ever CHamoru Archbishop, and would pass away the following year at the age of 64.

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In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents Chewing on Static. She regards this body of work as an exploration of what it means to live in a life that no longer feels entirely familiar. Ms. Birn uses her work as a way to consider what happens when something changes the way one moves through the world, the relationship with oneself, and understanding of the future, as a result of chronic illness. Her paintings emerge from this unresolved experience, giving shape to the feeling of living with something that cannot always be explained or communicated. Through abstraction, fragmentation, and restricted palettes, the works hold onto that tension, allowing forms to shift and remain ambiguous. What emerges is a reflection of what it is like to live with a reality that has become difficult to recognise. The title of the exhibit, Chewing on Static speaks to the mental noise that comes from searching for clarity, questioning one's own experience, and trying to communicate something that refuses to become simple or certain. It is about what happens when one is forced to construct a new understanding of oneself and continue living within something that is unchosen. Through her work, Birn asks the viewer to enter a space where certainty is difficult to find, and to sit with what cannot be resolved. Julia Birn is an accomplished artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur, who has participated in multiple large and small group shows in Guam since 2022. She has recently earned her BFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Summa Cum Laude. Follow her on Instagram @deafeningsilenceco or contact via email at deafeningsilenceco@gmail.com

Chewing on Static

Chewing on Static https://www.guammuseumfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Chewing-on-Static-INSTAGRAM_4K_H265.mov The next exhibit opening October 24, 2026 at the Guam Museum Cafe Gallery. In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents

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