TARA ESPERANZA: ROOTED IN TIME
June 6 – July 12, 2025
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, June 7, 3 – 5 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: June 6, July 4, 5 – 9 pm
Rooted in Time is a celebration of presence, patience, and growth. In this collection, Tara Esperanza presents paintings of succulents she has encountered, both in her own garden and along her running routes. Drawn to their beauty, strength, and adaptability to the landscapes they inhabit, Esperanza captures each plant in a moment of connection.
Succulents are resilient and expressive. Their forms shift gradually, responding to light, water, and the environment in ways that echo the natural rhythms of change. As Esperanza painted them, she too was moving through seasons of joy, grief, and transformation. Each plant became more than a subject; it became a companion, a marker of time. The paintings in Rooted in Time are connected not just by their subject matter, but by a sense of memory and meaning. Esperanza shares the intimacy she feels with these plants and the grounding presence they offer.
This exhibition invites viewers to slow down, look closely, and feel the quiet power of growth, in the garden and within ourselves.
Gallery
Available Work
Tara Esperanza
Tara Esperanza resides in Oakland, California, where succulents thrive year-round. When she is not painting, she enjoys running and capturing images that later inspire her work.
Esperanza earned a BFA in Painting, graduating cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and studied plein air painting in Brittany, France. A representational painter inspired by nature, she has dedicated years to portraying the remarkable beauty and diversity of succulents. She has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland, CA, since 2020. Her work has been shown at the Women’s United Art Movement Virtual Gallery, as well as numerous group exhibitions. In 2025, Esperanza received Best of Show at the Annual National Juried Painting Exhibition at Emerald Springs Art Center in Oregon. Her paintings have been featured in Create! Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, and other publications, and are held in private collections throughout the United States.