Dreams Gather Here Opens at ReflectSpace in Glendale
GLENDALE, CA – ReflectSpace at Glendale Central Library is pleased to present Dreams Gather Here, a solo exhibition by Rachel Hakimian Emenaker, on view from February 17 through April 26, 2026. The exhibition explores how the cultural memory of diasporic communities is preserved in the history of material objects. Moving across geographies that include Armenia, Lebanon, Russia, South America, and the United States, Emenaker’s work reflects on how people, objects, and gestures carry memory through time, forming the foundations of new futures and new cities.
With an American father and a Syrian Armenian mother, Emenaker’s childhood was spent in Suriname (South America) and Russia. She grew up multilingual and multicultural, immersed in Dutch, Russian, Armenian, American, and Surinamese cultures. Emenaker moved to the United States as an adult to start her university education in art.
Employing batik (wax and dye), sculpture, tile, and other media, Emenaker’s work is a meditation on diasporic architecture. Fragments, inherited gestures, and long-traveled materials converge in sculptural and installation-based works that speak directly to communities like Los Angeles, Moscow, Kessab, and Van—cities that witness, absorb, and hold countless migratory stories and dreams.
“For communities shaped by migration, grief, and rupture, dreaming can be a way of re-remembering and reimagining,” says Emenaker. “Dreams often become portable homes, a place to rest when permanence is impossible.”
Dreams Gather Here allows that precious moment to pause and reflect on what dreams and home may mean.
An opening reception with the artist will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM at ReflectSpace, located inside Central Library 222 East Harvard Street Glendale, CA 91205. For more information, visit ReflectSpace.org.
Rachel Hakimian Emenaker, Traces, Batik on canvas, 67 x 118 inches, 2025
About the Artist
Rachel Hakimian Emenaker is a Los Angeles-based artist working across installation, craft, sculpture, painting, sound, and textiles blending Eastern and Western art and craft traditions. She earned her MFA from UCLA. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at Grand Central Arts Center, Luce Gallery in Turin, UCLA Broad Art Center, Guest House in Inglewood, the American University of Armenia, and Earl and Virginia Green Gallery, as well as multiple group exhibitions in Southern California. She received the 2024 Dedalus MFA Fellowship and the 2023 UCLA Elaine Krown Klein Fine Arts Scholarship.
Exhibition Dates:
February 17 – April 26, 2026
Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 28, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Artist Talk: Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 6:30 PM; more information can be found at ReflectSpace.org
Location:
ReflectSpace / Glendale Central Library
222 East Harvard Street
Glendale, CA 91205
Phone: (818) 548-2021
ABOUT REFLECTSPACE
ReflectSpace is curated by Ara and Anahid Oshagan and is an inclusive exhibition gallery designed to explore and reflect on social justice issues, human rights violations, and genocides through the arts. Immersive in conception, ReflectSpace is a hybrid space that is both experiential and informative, employing art, technology, and interactive media to reflect on the past and present of Glendale’s communal fabric and interrogate current-day global human rights issues. ReflectSpace is housed in Glendale Central Library and online at ReflectSpace.org.
ABOUT LIBRARY, ARTS & CULTURE
Founded in 1907, the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department includes eight neighborhood libraries including the Brand Library & Art Center, a regional visual arts and music library and performance venue housed in the historic 1904 mansion of Glendale pioneer Leslie C. Brand, and the Central Library, a 93,000 square foot center for individuals and groups to convene, collaborate and create. The department also serves as the chief liaison to the Glendale Arts & Culture Commission, which works to continually transform Glendale into an ever-evolving arts destination. Glendale Library, Arts & Culture is supported in part through the efforts of the Glendale Library Arts & Culture Trust (GLACT). For more information visit GlendaleLAC.org, or contact Library, Arts & Culture at (818) 548-2021 or via email at LibraryInfo@GlendaleCA.gov .
