An Invitation to Create

Hello ,

It’s almost showtime, and I’m so excited to see you all very soon! I wanted to share a few details and reminders before Saturday.

Action Needed — Artwork Label Form

I’ll be making labels for everyone’s work. Please fill out the form below by Wednesday, June 24 so I have the correct information for your piece.

Label Form →

Show Hours

The exhibition will be open to the public from 4–8 PM. Feel free to invite anyone you’d like — guests are welcome to come and go as they please throughout the evening.

Who Is Installing the Show

Grace Saunders, Timothy Leblanc, and I will be placing and installing the work on Saturday. As the exhibition designers, we’ll make sure everything is thoughtfully placed and presented with care.

Installation will take place from 12–3:45 PM.

If You Are Dropping Off Your Work at the Venue

Please drop off your work at 12:15 PM. I don’t get the keys until 12, so please do not arrive before then.

After you drop off your pieces, feel free to go enjoy your afternoon and come back around 4 PM to enjoy the show!

If You Need Your Work Picked Up

Please coordinate with me on a good time, and I’d be happy to collect your work.

Thursday, June 25 — Riverside / Nearby Artists
I’ll be available to pick up work from Riverside or nearby artists. You can also drop your work off at my family home. Friday, June 26 — Los Angeles / Pasadena Artists
I’ll be available to pick up work from Los Angeles or Pasadena artists. You can also drop your work off at my apartment in Pasadena.

Please make sure your work is protected for transport.

Last-Minute Riverside Drop-Off Option

For the Riverside or nearby crew, Grace and Timothy have offered to bring work that is dropped off with them by Friday night, so you don’t have to come in early on Saturday.

Install Instructions

If you have any specific install instructions, please send them to me beforehand so we can make sure your work is shown the way you’d like.

And if you feel you need to install your work yourself because of any particular details or requirements, just let us know — but please don’t feel obligated to do so.

If You Are Selling Your Work

Pricing, payment, and delivery to your buyer are entirely yours to manage. Please make sure to coordinate with your buyer directly on how and when they’ll receive the piece.

Artwork will remain on view until 8 PM — after that, you’re welcome to take it down and take it home.

After the Show

If you won’t be able to take your work home that night, let me know and I can arrange to hold it for you. Otherwise, plan to take it with you at the end of the evening.

So excited to see everything come together!

with love,

Andru Perez

An Invitation to Create

Dear ,

My Saturn has returned, and with it, a desire to be surrounded by art and community.

For my 30th, I’ve decided to throw an art show. The theme revolves around Saturn Return, the astrological rite of passage when Saturn completes its first orbit back to where it was at your birth — roughly ages 27–30. It’s associated with confronting mortality, identity, and authenticity; the stripping away of borrowed personas; and the collapse of structures built unconsciously.

I don’t want to do this show alone. My hope is to have my friends’ artwork fill the walls, each owning their own narrative and interpretation of this cosmic inner confrontation.

I want to formally invite you to be involved in this project. I’d love to see your work on the walls of the gallery. Whether it’s artwork you’ve already made or a new idea, I’m open to anything. All mediums are welcome.

This show is something I decided to create for my birthday, but it’s not a birthday party — it’s a real group exhibition, open to the public. There will be a private, invite-only after party for my birthday, but more details on that coming soon.

The date & time: Saturday, June 27, 2026 — 4–8pm (time tentative)

The venue: Amato Studio, in the Arlington Heights community of LA. A 1920s bank that has been converted into an event space and production studio, with 20-foot ceilings, so you’re welcome to go big.

Tentative title: The Return of Saturn

My project’s tone: Dark surrealism with a Romantic soul. Shadows of the psyche coming to light. “Joy and woe are woven fine.” I'll be working with cyanotypes, batik, and an art installation. I’m trying not to overthink it or be held back by limiting beliefs. I just want to make work that says what my words can’t. I want to put myself out there, stay present, and trust the process of making.

Practical notes: The venue asks that we use Command Strips where possible, so keep that in mind for hanging. We’ll have a low-lit room available for any digital work or light installations. You’re also welcome to sell any pieces you submit and set your own prices. Art handling and installation will be coordinated individually — we’ll figure out the details together. This is an open-to-the-public event — invite anyone you’d like.

If you’re interested, please reach out by next Sunday, May 24! I’m here if you want to brainstorm or need any more direction. No pressure at all if this isn’t the right moment — I just wanted to personally invite you in. Regardless, consider this an invitation to the show — I’d love to see your face.

*******

“It is right it should be so
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine”

– William Blake

*******

with love,

Andru Perez