Things will be going “low and slow” on Saturday, June 24, at California State University, Northridge as CSUN hosts the first of what university officials hope will be an annual lowrider car show at the university.
“Low and Slow @CSUN” marks the final weeks of an exhibition on lowrider culture, “The Politics of Low and Slow,” on display in CSUN’s University Library Exhibit Gallery. The car show, will feature a display of lowrider vehicles, performances and vendors from noon to 5 p.m. on the university’s Bayramian Lawn, located on the west side of the campus near Etiwanda Avenue and Prairie Street.
“The car show not only highlights Chicano history, but the role lowrider culture has played in shaping culture throughout California, not just in the Chicano communities,” said CSUN Chicana/o studies professor Denise Sandoval, curator of the library exhibition and organizer of “Low and Slow @CSUN.” “As far as I know, CSUN has never hosted a lowrider car show before. It’s about time we celebrated a part of the Chicano culture that is so important to many of our students, faculty, staff, their families and members of our community.”
The car show is expected to feature 30 to 40 customized lowriders.
“It will be quite something to see,” Sandoval said.
As part of the celebration, Sandoval will be offering a “curator’s tour” of the “The Politics of Low and Slow” exhibition in the gallery on the second floor of the University Library. The exhibition, which ends July 31, features more than 200 pieces — from magazines, flyers from car clubs, clothing, photographs, artwork and car parts — that provide insight into the birth and evolution of the lowrider culture, which can now be found in communities around the world.
Sandoval said the event presents “a wonderful opportunity to invite members of the community, many of whom have never been to CSUN before, to explore the campus and its library.”
“They can learn more about us and the roles we play in the community,” she said.
Sandoval, who teaches in CSUN’s College of Humanities, is considered as one the nation’s leading experts on lowrider culture. She has designed three lowrider exhibits for the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and curated a lowrider motorcycle show for CAM, the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is currently working on a national exhibition for the Smithsonian.
Admission for the “Low and Slow @CSUN” car show and for “The Politics of Low and Slow” exhibition is free. Attendees are encouraged to park in the campus’ B3 parking structure. Parking permits are $9.50 and can be purchased at automated kiosks in the structure.
For more information about the exhibition, visit the University Library’s website at https://library.csun.edu/SCA/LibraryExhibits/low-and-slow. For more information about the car show, call CSUN’s Department of Chicana/o Studies at 818-677-2734 or email the department at chicanostudies@csun.edu.