Cecilia Vicuña in Conversation at MOCA Grand Avenue

Artist Cecilia Vicuña sits down with Elizabeth DeLoughrey at MOCA Grand Avenue on Sunday, November 15, at 3 PM. If you are scanning for LA events this weekend or planning ahead, this is one of the more thoughtful free talks on the museum calendar.

When: Sunday, November 15, 2026, 3 PM Where: MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles Admission: Free with RSVP

What the conversation is about

The talk marks Vicuña's exhibition The Dream of Water: Quipu of Encounters Maricunga. Her project at MOCA looks at the ecological crisis in the Maricunga Salt Flats, in the southernmost part of the Atacama Desert. Fragile ecosystems there, and the communities who have lived on the land for generations, face growing pressure from corporate lithium mining.

DeLoughrey will talk with Vicuña about this newly commissioned work and about her decades-long practice, which moves between poetry, performance and textiles. The cover photo shows a ritual performance from the Maricunga project in Chile, where participants carry long ribbons of pink fiber across the salt flat.

About the artist

Vicuña was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1948 and works from New York. She is a visual artist, poet, filmmaker and activist. Her work in space, performance and visual art is often described as a decolonizing vision that anticipated ecofeminism. She is also one of the inaugural winners of The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize, which supports artists whose practices address climate, conservation and environmental justice.

RSVP and practical info

Admission is free, but you need to RSVP. MOCA opened tickets to Members on October 26 and to the general public on October 28, so reserve a spot soon through the museum's event page. Free events with an RSVP can fill up, and a reservation is the way to hold a place.

MOCA Grand Avenue sits in the Bunker Hill area of downtown, at 250 South Grand Avenue. The museum is walkable from the Metro stops around Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill, and nearby garages are the usual choice if you drive. Allow a little time to find parking and get settled before the 3 PM start.

If you are building a day around it, the museum's current exhibitions, including Alexander Apóstol's Regime: Dramatis Personae and In These Times: Recent Acquisitions at MOCA, run through early January. That makes this a good anchor for an afternoon of art downtown, and one of the upcoming events in Los Angeles worth putting on the calendar. Browse more in arts and culture or explore downtown.