This summer, the City of Pompano Beach invites residents and visitors to experience four thought-provoking exhibitions that explore identity, transformation, creativity, history, and human connection. Opening across the City’s cultural venues, I Am My Ancestors at the Ali Cultural Arts Center, Shape, Break, Build and Carried Home at Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA), and In Connection at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center demonstrate the transformative power of art to inspire dialogue while offering new perspectives on the world around us.
“Art has the power to challenge assumptions, spark conversation, and bring people together,” said Ty Tabing, Cultural Affairs Director for the City of Pompano Beach. “These four exhibitions demonstrate how artists can help us better understand ourselves, our communities, and our shared experiences. Each exhibition offers a unique perspective, yet together they tell a larger story.”
Exhibition: I Am My Ancestors
Ali Cultural Arts Center June 23 – September 16, 2026
Leading the summer season is I Am My Ancestors, a powerful exhibition by artist Will Simpson of Timelessartz that celebrates Black culture, resilience, and achievement. Presented through the lens of dance, music, poetry, and visual art, the exhibition explores the rich cultural traditions and creative legacies that continue to shape African American communities today.
Located at the Ali Cultural Arts Center in the heart of one of Broward County’s most significant African American communities, the exhibition challenges conventional narratives by highlighting a heritage rooted in royalty, innovation, artistry, and strength. Through vibrant and thought-provoking works, I Am My Ancestors encourages visitors to embrace their heritage, recognize their worth, and celebrate the enduring legacy of those who came before them.
Exhibition: In Connection
Pompano Beach Cultural Center July 17 – September 25, 2026
In Connection brings together a diverse group of artists from the Coral Springs Artist Guild to examine the many forces that bind us to one another, our communities, and the natural world.
Working across painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, and photography, participating artists explore the evolving nature of togetherness through personal and collective narratives. The exhibition reflects the Guild’s commitment to fostering artistic growth, creative dialogue, and community engagement among artists from multiple generations and backgrounds.
Through thoughtful and engaging works, In Connection invites visitors to reflect on the relationships, experiences, and shared histories that shape our collective humanity.
Preview Reception: In Connection
Thursday, July 16 | 6:00 PM Registration
Exhibition: Shape, Break, Build
Artwork: Shared Resonance
Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) July 24 – September 19, 2026
Curated by Luna Goldberg, Shape, Break, Build presents a decade-long exploration of material innovation by artist Luke Jenkins.
The exhibition showcases Jenkins’ ongoing experimentation with reclaimed wood, utilizing techniques that range from CNC carving and thermal modification to sandblasting, inventive joinery, and even the transformative effects of termites. Through works that move fluidly between sculpture, furniture, and conceptual art, Jenkins examines themes of decay, resilience, adaptation, and renewal.
By embracing both craftsmanship and chance, Shape, Break, Build reveals the dynamic relationship between artist and material, inviting audiences to consider how transformation can emerge through both intention and natural processes.
West Gallery, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) July 24 – September 12, 2026
In Carried Home, artist Luke Jenkins examines the remarkable journey of Cryptotermes brevis, a termite species native to Chile’s Atacama Desert that traveled across oceans within the wooden ships of early European colonization before ultimately establishing itself in South Florida.
Originating in the driest place on Earth, Cryptotermes brevis survives today within the kiln-dried wood used to build homes and structures throughout South Florida. Because it cannot survive in moist natural ecosystems, its existence here depends entirely on human-made environments, creating a fascinating story of adaptation, migration, and survival.
Through reclaimed wood marked by termite activity, alongside carved wood, ceramics, and paper, Jenkins explores themes of movement, hidden histories, and interconnected environments. Drawing connections between ship structures, desert landscapes, termite colonies, and local communities, the exhibition transforms termite damage into a visual record of loss, resilience, and shared histories.
By combining patterns created by hand, machine, and insect, Carried Home invites viewers to reconsider how seemingly invisible journeys continue to shape our environment and collective experience.
Carried Home was made possible with support from the Broward County Cultural Division. Additional support has been provided by the Community Foundation of Broward through the Helen and Frank Stoykov Charitable Endowment Fund and the Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund.
Opening Reception: Carried Home
Friday, July 24 | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
West Gallery, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA), Register
“Art has the power to challenge assumptions, spark conversation, and bring people together,” said Ty Tabing, Cultural Affairs Director for the City of Pompano Beach. “These three exhibitions demonstrate how artists can help us better understand ourselves, our communities, and our shared experiences. Each exhibition offers a unique perspective, yet together they tell a larger story about transformation, resilience, and connection.”
All exhibitions are free and open to the public.
For more information about these exhibitions and other cultural programming, visit the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Division Website or call 954-545-7800.
About Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department, operating as Pompano Beach Arts, is to provide cultural programming that includes visual arts, digital media, music, film, theater, dance, and public art for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors to Pompano Beach, Broward County, and the greater South Florida area. The department programs and manages the City’s premiere cultural arts venues, including the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Ali Cultural Arts Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, and the Blanche Ely House Museum. The department also oversees the City’s Public Art Program and the Artists in Residence (AiR) initiative.
