Join us for a reception celebrating Debra Scacco's multiyear artist residency with the city of Santa Monica Public Works Department (Water and Resource Recovery & Recycling Divisions). Scacco's project, Laboratory for the Future, researched, illuminated, and celebrated the often-unseen labor that sustains Santa Monica and the natural and created systems of the city and region.

Included in the exhibition are different modes of data visualization; maps of water systems in Santa Monica, rubbings of infrastructure sites, a collaboration with the city's geographic mapping systems team, sculptures inspired by visits to wells and reservoirs, and works made from Pacific Ocean driftwood. The exhibition also features Scacco's "We Are Essential" photo campaign (photography by Monica Orozco), documentation of an eponymous festival celebrating essential workers that Scacco produced in 2024, and other images from her research on invisible infrastructural systems.

Laboratory for the Future is a project of City Yards Artist in Residence Debra Scacco, and is made possible by the city of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and Percent for Art program, and the city of Santa Monica Public Works Department.

After the opening reception, all are welcome to stay longer and meet the artists who work at the Airport Arts Center during their Open Studios, 12-5pm.

Events:
The Laboratory for the Future exhibit is on view at the Airport Arts Center Propeller Gallery, 3026 Airport Ave, 10/11/25 - 1/4/26. Hours: Thursday - Sunday, 12-5pm.

10/11/25, 12-3pm: Opening Reception for Laboratory for the Future exhibit, Propeller Gallery

10/18/25, 11am-12:30pm: Composting session, (following the 9-11am “Oh My Gourd” event and garden exploration) at Ishihara Park Learning Garden, 2909 Exposition Blvd.

10/25/25, 12-2pm: Flow and Form: The Invisible Systems of Santa Monica, an artist talk and exhibit walkthrough with Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery

11/1/25, 12-1:30pm: Woven Waters: Protection, Resistance, Renewal, a conversation with Emma Robbins (Diné Water Activist & Artist) and Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery

1/3/26, 12-2pm: Exhibit closing event with Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery