Future Vision

with special exhibition in the Inner Room, Monica Valdez Harb: Altar-Structures

September 24 - October 31, 2026

Future Vision brings together the work of Caleb Dowdell and TaVee McAllister Lee, two artists looking at the forces that shape the world we imagine and the world we create.

Caleb Dowdell’s Our Prism of Dreams is a kinetic, five-sided plexiglass prism featuring hand-painted portraits of people whose lives have expanded what others might believe possible appear together as examples of persistence, courage, and possibility. Painted with layers of translucent acrylic, the portraits shift and overlap as the prism moves, suggesting that one person’s accomplishments can become another person’s starting point.

The transparent panels also introduce another idea: being seen. The figures emerge and disappear as the viewer moves around the work, while the sculpture itself turns freely with the air. Dowdell extends this sense of movement through live musical performances, adding another layer of response to the people and stories represented.

TaVee McAllister Lee approaches the future from a different direction. Her floating paper collages are assembled from torn magazine images and fragments of text, bringing together scenes of desire, consumption, achievement, violence, environmental damage, displacement, and everyday life. Images that once belonged to advertising and mass media are removed from their original contexts and placed into new, often uneasy relationships.

Together, the works ask us to consider what we carry forward. Lee examines the competing interests and consequences of our collective and individual choices. Dowdell points to inspiration in individuals who light the way toward who we can be and what we can do. Future Vision does not offer a single picture of what lies ahead, instead, it places hope, aspiration, responsibility, and uncertainty alongside one another—and leaves room for us to consider what kind of future we are helping to make.

More About Our Prism of Dreams

Our Prism of Dreams is a beacon of hope to people from around the world. This kinetic artwork features hand painted portraits by Bay Area artist Caleb Dowdell. All of his subjects are painted on a five-sided plexiglass prism of unique individuals who he recognizes have helped pave the way for those who aspire to follow in their footsteps and inspired us to chase our dreams fearlessly. Dowdell incorporates performance into the exhibition of this piece through live musical performances of songs that reflect and extend the work’s central themes. He also used the Art Kiosk as a Residency Program, allowing viewers to witness him painting and developing the installation over the six-week exhibition period. By revealing the artwork as it evolved, the creative process itself became a living performance, offering audiences insight into the labor, skill, and intention behind this ambitious project.

One panel honors Mary Jackson, the groundbreaking NASA engineer, alongside the revolutionary performer and advocate Janelle Monáe who portrayed Jackson in the movie Hidden Figures. Jackson shattered barriers as NASA’s first Black female engineer paving the way for future generations to reach for the stars—and even the moon.

Another panel depicts Harriet “Moses” Tubman who rescued and freed hundreds of enslaved people, served as a nurse and spy for the Union, and was the first woman to lead a major military operation in the U.S.

Also featured is Victoria Manalo Draves who was the first Asian American U.S. Olympic champion, winning a gold medal during a time when many public pools in the country restricted access to “whites only.”

Another panel showcases Coach Herman Boone, the inspiration for the film Remember the Titans, and one of the first coaches in U.S. history to lead an integrated football team. Portrayed by the Denzel Washington, Coach Boone fostered mutual respect and unity, leading his team to an undefeated season in 1971.

The installation also honors José Hernández, one of the first Latino astronauts to travel to space and the first migrant farm worker to do so. His journey was portrayed in the inspiring film A Million Miles Away, showcases his relentless pursuit of what once seemed an impossible dream.

The panels are constructed of clear plexiglass, serving as a metaphor for personal transparency, feeling unseen, and inner exploration. The panels are painted with semi-transparent glazes of acrylic paint and gloss medium allowing for colors to blend and transform as the viewer moves around the prism, symbolizing how dreamers influence and feed off of each other. Reflecting on Dowdell’s own journey, his path twists and turns with new inpirations, obstacles, risks, and sacrifices. As this piece rotates freely with the breeze, Dowdell champions sitting back and enjoy the ride!

Special thanks to Redwood City Improvement Association for funding this installation as well assistants Steve Dellicarpini, Autumn, Kalyani, Vu, Olli, Neal, Johnny, Ari, Edith, Caesar, Paris, Mariana, Elizabeth and Sasha.

-Courtesy Caleb Dowdell