Meet Erina Alejo: Balay Kreative's Inaugural Artist Grantee!

We’re excited to congratulate Balay Kreative’s inaugural artist grantee, Erina Alejo!

Erina is an artist, researcher, and educator. They build visual and temporal archives on labor, displacement, and family and communal history, rooting from their identity as a third-generation renter in San Francisco raised in the Mission, SOMA Pilipinas and Excelsior districts.

Erina's multidisciplinary project, A Hxstory of Renting (AHOR), will launch its photography book portion in Spring 2020 through a series of traveling exhibits and presentations. AHOR examines the visual culture of gentrification, displacement and resilience of a San Francisco experienced through Alejo’s lens as a third-generation renter.

Statement About the Project -- Kim Arteche, Balay Kreative Program Manger

A Hxstory of Renting reflects on incredibly poignant perspectives of many Filipino immigrant families and working class families whose experiences are often invisible in the media and art. Erina’s work illustrates the resilience of those families who are at the heart of SOMA Pilipinas and our community’s history. Balay Kreative is proud to support Erina, a rising artist in our community!