Upcoming Exhibition:

Rat City

Bella Maria Varela
Opens January 18th, 2025, 7-9pm

Rat City explores my family's ongoing struggle with gentrification in our Washington, D.C. neighborhood. In 1998, my parents purchased their first home in Columbia Heights, a historically Latinx and Black neighborhood overlooking the White House. It was the first house they were able to purchase after migrating from Guatemala, and we believed this house would be our family’s home forever.

Growing up, I witnessed the demolition of old brick townhouses and the construction of towering, white-paneled condos, all designed to cater to the growing population of white, young professionals flocking to the city. Today, my family faces a critical choice: whether to sell or hold on.

The language used to marginalize immigrant communities often mirrors how we describe unwanted urban wildlife, particularly the Norway (commonly known as Brown) rat. These creatures, like displaced communities, are labeled as unwelcome, invasive or disease-ridden. This parallel is explored in the video Rats, R Us, which documents my mother's battle with the rat nests in our backyard flower beds.

The 15-foot metal framework crafted from EMT conduit and pipe fittings resembles an inverted construction site, and is draped with found and dye-sublimation printed fuzzy blankets. These San Marcos-inspired blankets, traditionally featuring pop culture icons and homeland heroes, are passed down through generations and carried across borders and embody the immigrant experience.

Rat City is a documentation of impending loss, a testament to survival, and a meditation on the constant negotiation of home in a landscape shaped by perpetual colonization. It envisions the survival of marginalized communities as the key to collective liberation, embracing both human and nonhuman lives.

View the Exhibition Page Here

THIS WEEK:

Current Exhibition:

To Be Whole in the Desert

Marcus Xavier Chormicle

Wednesday, January 8th is the last day to view the exhibit, noon - 3pm.

Desert Audio Research Live at Pidgin Palace

PLUS El Burrito Real will be serving up delicious eats on our patio from 7-11pm.

Desert Audio Research is a Tucson based experimental, instrumental group that combines electroacoustic techniques, prepared instrumentation, sound collage, & free-jazz elements to build improvised soundscapes drifting between playful experimentation and cinematic deconstruction. The group's core members Brandon Ross (Low Skies, The Glorious Vapors, Mirror Cults), Stephen Dorocke (Handsome Family, Freakwater), and Steve Hunt (NRG Ensemble, Extraordinary Popular Delusions) are frequently joined by other talented musicians on stage.

Jackson Holte

with
Stella N' Chubbs

Live at
Pidgin Palace Arts
Tuscon, AZ

Presented by
Sound Post Folk Center

8:00pm
January 10th, 2025

We are partnering with The Sound Post to bring you a night of soulful western cowboy blues.

WANTED: DJs, Food Trucks, and entertainers!

Do you or someone you know have a knack for curating and mixing tunes or perhaps making delicious food and snacks? 

We want you to play and vend at your local watering hole. 
This space is ripe with opportunity for collaboration. We welcome ideas for screenings, theme nights, live shows and more. We need more connective spaces for music, art, and culture.

Our doors are open to you!

The Pidgin Palace bar offers an array of beverages and experiences.

We are open Thursday - Saturday 5-1:30 am, Sundays 12-6 pm.

The Pidgin Post celebrates contemporary art in Tucson. We invite you to view, absorb, discuss, converse, dance, and drink at your neighborhood art bar! 

SUNDAY SPECIALS: Be sure to grab some Ruiz Sonoran dogs and get a lil discount at the bar. Bask in the sun with a bloody mary or a hot coffee on our patio.