Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making at the SLV Museum
The San Lorenzo Valley Museum has opened a new exhibition, Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making, now on view at the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery in Felton.
This thought-provoking exhibit explores California’s Mexican period (1822–1846), pairing authentic histories with the romanticized versions that followed. It examines how early settlers, writers, and promoters shaped California’s image — often replacing complex realities with nostalgic myths of gracious ranchos and carefree lives of abundance. Missing from those stories were the experiences of Indigenous peoples, Franciscan friars, and the struggles that marked daily life in early settlements.
Telling Stories of Mexican California traces the historical arc leading up to statehood and contrasts fact with fiction in the narratives that emerged after the U.S. annexation. The exhibition highlights 19th-century Mexican American individuals and families who preserved their own accounts, while also examining how later storytellers crafted a mythic vision of “Old California.” These tales, popularized by boosters and writers, helped transform perceptions of California from an unfamiliar frontier into a romantic and marketable paradise—an image that still influences the state’s identity today.
Though California’s Mexican era lasted less than 30 years, its influence on the distribution of land, wealth, and power has endured. The exhibition reflects on how that brief period — and its retelling — continues to shape California’s culture and understanding of its past.
Special programming will accompany the exhibition. In October, Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez, Assistant Professor at UC Santa Cruz, will present a talk on Indigenous histories, politics, and stories of 19th-century California. From October 27 through November 16, visitors are also invited to contribute to a community Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) ofrenda, honoring loved ones who have passed. The exhibition will remain on view through November 16, 2025.
Tour the exhibition during the San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce mixer on Thursday, October 16 from 5 to 7:30pm. View the Facebook event
Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery
6299 Gushee Street, Felton
The exhibition flyer features the Grazia-Denison family seated on the porch of the Boulder Creek House. Maria Solia Grazia Denison, born in 1852, was a third-generation Californian. To learn more about the family, visit the companion portrait exhibition FaceTime at Grace Episcopal Gallery in Boulder Creek.
Exhibition Support
Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making was organized by the California Historical Society, features the CHS Collection at Stanford, and is touring through Exhibit Envoy.
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