NXTHVN presents glass art exhibition
NXTHVN, an international art institution in the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven, CT, presents “All At Once, Reflected Through Glass,” a group exhibition on view from March 8 to May 18, 2025. The exhibition is curated by Rigoberto Luna, NXTHVN’s Cohort 06 Curatorial Fellow.
The exhibition showcases the artistic practice of glass as a medium of resistance, featuring work from Angela Babby, Layo Bright, Cheryl Derricotte, Einar & Jamex De la Torre, Timo Fahler, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Titus Kaphar, Patrick Martinez, Perla Segovia, and more. Utilizing the medium for critical and transformative storytelling, the artists’ works reflect on social issues and inequities while connecting with personal and collective histories, creating a space for dialogue within a complex multicultural world. Together, these textured expressions invite viewers to engage with their respective messages, consider their broader social context and challenge the traditional, predominantly white narratives of glassmaking.
“All At Once, Reflected Through Glass” revisits the industrial legacy of New Haven’s Dixwell neighborhood, centering on NXTHVN’s campus. Once home to H. Puddicombe & Company (a manufacturer of art and leaded glass from 1920 to 1945) and the Macalaster Bicknell Company (a key producer of laboratory equipment and glassware from the 1940s to 2012) this building is a relic of Dixwell’s manufacturing past, before its adaptive reuse and establishment as an arts incubator in 2019. Blending the history of glass production with NXTHVN’s mission to disrupt the art world’s status quo, this exhibition highlights resistive and radical art-making through glass.
Historically, the contributions of working-class laborers, particularly those of color, have often gone undocumented. All At Once, Reflected Through Glass explores the building’s history while honoring the contributions of former factory employees
“This exhibition is not just about glass—it’s about labor, access, and the overlooked histories often left untold,” Luna said. “It considers how this building’s past informs its present and how art can reclaim space, visibility, and memory.”
In its sixth year, the NXTHVN Fellowship accelerates artistic and curatorial careers within a collaborative, community-driven context through a cutting-edge curriculum that marries artistic and professional development.
ABOUT NXTHVN
NXTHVN is a new national arts model that empowers artists and curators through education and access to a vibrant ecosystem. Supported by intergenerational mentorship, cross-sector collaboration and local engagement, NXTHVN accelerates the careers of the next generation and fosters retention of professional art talent while helping catalyze New Haven into a world-class, sustainable arts community.
ABOUT RIGOBERTO LUNA
Rigoberto Luna is an independent curator based in San Antonio, TX, where he co-founded Presa House Gallery. Luna has advocated for artists in Texas and the lower Southwestern United States, focused on creating pathways and platforms for artists and elevating their work on regional and national stages. In 2023, Luna curated the traveling exhibition “Soy de Tejas: A Statewide Survey of Latinx Art,” which debuted at Centro de Artes in San Antonio, TX.
Recent projects include co-organizing exhibitions for the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston and Chicano Park Museum Cultural Center in San Diego, CA. Forthcoming, Luna will be the guest curator of “Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands,” opening in the Summer of 2025 at the Tucson Museum of Art.
