“Guatemala: My Place of Trees” Solo Exhibition by Ambar Santiago Opens in Side Gallery on September 17

What if the place you’re supposed to call home is a place you’ve never truly known?

Ambar Santiago makes her exhibition debut at CityArts’ SIDE Gallery with “Guatemala: My
Place of Trees.” Through fluorescently powerful color and dense layers of overgrown plants,
Santiago confronts the complicated experience of growing up in the United States while feeling
separated from her Central American and Caribbean heritage.

“Guatemala: My Place of Trees” speaks to anyone who has ever felt too disconnected from their
heritage to fully claim it, but too connected to ever let it go. Rather than presenting Guatemala
as somewhere familiar, Santiago constructs her own imagined landscape, a psychological map
built from longing and cultural displacement. Her work transforms the tropical plant into a symbol
of the search for roots, which is something that can nurture, protect, consume, and ultimately
become impossible to escape.

At its heart, this debut exhibition asks what it means to create a homeland inside your own
imagination when the real one feels just out of reach. “Guatemala: My Place of Trees” is a
reminder that sometimes the landscape we make to find ourselves can become the very thing
that swallows us whole.

In the last six months, Ambar Santiago has risen to prominence in Orlando through her
advocacy for women artists. Because of this advocacy, she won WOMEN OF IMPACT in the
Arts – Rising Star, presented by Nosotras Latinas Magazine and Mujer Emprendre.

She also had the great honor of being invited by her alma mater UCF in April 2026, to talk about
her advocacy for women’s rights in the arts. Ambar and her team at Mills Gallery talked to the
UCF students for two hours and shared their views about the art world and artists. The event
was introduced by Representative Anna Eskamani, which showed the city’s support.
Ambar Santiago also recently curated her very first Exhibition titled “Opposites Attract”, in March
2026, featuring Liamel Cohen and Genna Sweetnam. The Exhibition received rave reviews and
sold nine (9) pieces.

“Guatemala: My Place of Trees” is presented in conjunction with the beginning of Hispanic
Heritage Month in September, making this an especially critical time to share and celebrate our
Hispanic identities and stories.

Ambar strongly believes, “If I can help one woman feel prepared enough to enter the art world,
then I’m doing something right.”

Art Instagram: @dvckssauce