Expressions of the Dream
Through the eyes of seven artists, explore the Center’s art installations inspired by journeys, family, and hopes that speak to the American Dream.
Hall of DreamsMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
The Dream Through Art
Throughout the Milken Center, art is displayed that expresses insights into the American Dream. The artists’ visions come to life through a variety of media and materials: paint, fabric, metal, photography, and technology.
Flower Song: Through Dappled Shade, Dancing on Our Faces by Basil KincaidMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Flower Song: Through Dappled Share, Dancing on Our Faces
Basil Kincaid is an American artist who honors traditional craftsmanship through a diverse range of media, including quilting, collaging, photography, and performance.
Basil Kincaid at Work (2025) by Basil KincaidMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Each 200-square-foot quilt was hand-stitched in Basil’s studio in Ghana using recycled fabrics, embroidery, and collage, reflecting themes of family and imagination.
Symbols, metaphors, color, and patterns are woven into a rich narrative of the American Dream.
Human and animal forms come together in celebration, support, play, learning, family, and resilience.
Basil Kincaid: In His Own Words
A Collective Horizon by Suttichra MattaiMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
A Collective Horizon
Los Angeles-based artist Suchitra Mattai explores themes of dream making and intergenerational storytelling in her new, site-specific tapestry A Collective Horizon, located in the Center's Hall of Dreams.
In all her work, artist Suchitra Mattai handcrafts the legacy of her own family’s immigration journey. This story includes the history of indentured labor and ancestors crossing oceans in pursuit of their own dreams.
The tapestry is hand-woven from saris (traditional South Asian clothing) passed down through generations in the artist’s family and collected from her community.
Suchitra Mattai: In Her Own Words
"When I use saris, I use ones that have been worn, that have a history, and then when I weave them together, that history becomes joined."
The sites of Nimbus by Berndnaut SmildeMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Nimbus MCAAD
A series of large-scale photographs represent the four pillars of the Center: education, entrepreneurship, health, and financial empowerment. Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde reflected on how dreams were made, forming clouds in unique places connected to each pillar.
Nimbus: Pennsylvania Hospital by Berndnaut SmildeMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Dreaming Up Clouds
Smilde uses a precise process to create a cloud, controlling fog, light, and humidity, but must trust a cloud to form organically. These cloudscapes challenge expectations of dreams, surprises, and possibilities.
Berndnaut Smilde: In His Own Words
To bring color and inspiration to the Center’s stairways, muralists were invited to reflect on their experiences and dreams to create artwork to delight, engage, and provoke.
Waves of Change: A Journey of Dreams by MISS CHELOVEMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Waves of Change: A Journey of Dreams
Washington, DC-based artist MISS CHELOVE combines bold, abstract color with photographic elements in her collages to tell the story of her mother, Sri, and her journey from Indonesia to the United States.
The artist uses collages of family Kodachrome photos and archival images of historic architecture to commemorate her mother's journey and legacy.
Natural motifs of flowers and birds bridge her family’s Javanese ancestral roots with the new foundation they built in America.
Synthesis of Dreams by Jessica GonzalesMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Synthesis of Dreams
As a child who grew up in a military family, artist Jessica Gonzales' childhood spent in Germany had a profound impact on how she began to form her artwork.
Now based in Tucson, Arizona, Gonzales' work explores the underlying experience of interconnectedness that defines our shared experiences.
Synthesis of Dreams by Jessica GonzalesMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
A landscape of building blocks nourish the flowers growing from them. Interconnected networks are formed, symbolizing the strength of community and a collective American Dream story.
The Wishes
Born in Australia and now based in New York, the artist Vexta reflects on how the ordinary becomes extraordinary in her exploration of the humble dandelion, painted in monumental scale and bright, bold colors.
Vexta imagines a collection of wishes beneath a constellation of stars, inviting the viewer to envision their own dreams. An augmented reality experience allows visitors to cast their dreams (symbolized by dandelion seeds) into the open space below.
John Pugh's Beacon of Hope – Faces of America by John PughMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Beacon of Hope
In the grand staircase of the Milken Institute’s lobby (adjacent to the Center), California-based muralist John Pugh brings to focus the American Dream and its impact around the world.
The artist uses trompe l’oeil techniques to bring the viewer into the mural's scene: Lady Liberty’s outstretched arm rising three stories as a gathering of immigrants looks on.
Familiar Faces
More than 65 notable individuals are among the onlookers, including Nikola Tesla, Gloria Estefan, and Albert Einstein. Each person is reflecting on their own journeys in pursuit of their Dreams.
Waves of Change: A Journey of Dreams by MISS CHELOVEMilken Center for Advancing the American Dream
Expression through art is just one—but powerful—pathway to share how education, innovation, personal and community wellness, and financial empowerment fuel the American Dream.
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.