It is one of Guam’s most familiar refrains—a slogan, a value, and a call to action repeated across businesses, community events, and creative spaces. Yet when it comes to art, what does supporting local actually mean?
“Support local!”
It is one of Guam’s most familiar refrains—a slogan, a value, and a call to action repeated across businesses, community events, and creative spaces. Yet when it comes to art, what does supporting local actually mean?
Support Your Local Biases emerged from conversations with artists across Guam’s contemporary and lowbrow scenes. Time and time again, we hear variations of the same sentiment:
“I wish I could make more experimental work, but I stick to realism because that’s what people expect from me.”
“I get commissioned often, which I appreciate, but few people seem interested in my personal work.”
“People tell me they would buy prints of my work, but when I finally produce them, nobody buys… not even one.”
These conversations reveal a difficult reality: support is rarely neutral. We often support what is familiar to us, what aligns with our tastes, what we understand, and what makes us comfortable. In other words, our support is shaped by our biases.
This exhibition does not condemn those biases, though. Artists have them, too. We all carry assumptions and preconceived notions about what art should look like, what it should communicate, and what makes it valuable. So, instead of bringing any rebuke or castigations, this exhibition asks us to become aware of them.
What happens when local artists create work that is strange, challenging, unconventional, or difficult to categorize? What happens when local art does not match our expectations of what local art should be? Are we still willing to support it?
The Young Guns Collective hopes this exhibition serves two purposes. First, we hope it creates a space for local artists to present work freely, without having to negotiate the expectations from the community, from peers and fellow artists, or even from themselves. Second, we hope it invites both artists and viewers to reflect on the assumptions they bring into creative spaces.
Guam is home to an extraordinary range of artists whose work can stand alongside other creatives around the world. Yet recognition begins with curiosity and interest. Before we decide whether we like a work, understand it and try to feel something. And perhaps we should first ask ourselves: what exactly are we supporting when we say we support local?
So please—
Support your local printmaker.
Support your local graphic designer.
Support your local painter.
Support your local illustrator.
Support your local photographer.
Support your local crocheter.
Support your local punk band.
Support your local DJ.
Support your local bakery.
Support your local coffee shop.
Support your local food truck.
Support your local mechanic.
Support your local farmer.
Support your local thrift store.
Support your local animal shelter.
Support your local streetwear shop.
Support your local pop-up market.
Support your local jiu-jitsu gym.
Support your local izakaya.
Support your local legends.
Support your local flora and fauna.
And, of course—
Support your local artists.
If you enjoy the work the Guam Museum is doing, consider making a donation to the Guam Museum.
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