BETTY
January 28 to March 11, 2027
CSUN ART GALLERIES
ON WHEELS
January 22 to March 12, 2027
BETTY
THIRD HOUSE STUDIOS
The term “betty” has long occupied a place in the American cultural imagination. From Betty Cooper's (1941, Archie Comics) wholesome girl-next-door persona and Betty Grable's (1940s) glamorous pin-up image to Bettie Page's (1950s) rebellious sexuality and Betty Rubble's (1960s, The Flintstones) playful domesticity, the name has come to represent shifting ideas of femininity, beauty, desirability, and independence.
In West Coast surf and skate culture, betty emerged as slang for an attractive young woman, sometimes carrying a dismissive or objectifying undertone. The stereotype of the beautiful girl or groupie waiting on the beach for her surfer boy to return. The term gained wider recognition during the 1980s, around the same time that another distinctly Southern Californian archetype, the Valley Girl, became embedded in popular culture. Defined by her speech, appearance, consumer habits, and seemingly carefree lifestyle, the Valley Girl reinforced an image of the San Fernando Valley as white, middle-class, culturally devoid suburbia – an image that became firmly embedded in popular culture.
Both the Betty and Valley Girl reflect the ways women and places have been imagined, represented, and reduced to familiar stereotypes. But beneath these popular images lies a much richer and more complicated history.
Today, Betty is being reclaimed and reimagined, taking on as many meanings as the folks who choose to identify with the term “Betty.”
BETTY, an art exhibition curated by 11:11 Projects and opening at CSUN Art Galleries in January 2027, defies the pop culture images of a Betty and the Valley by celebrating how the antithesis of pop culture – underground movements, overlooked communities, and DIY countercultures – forged the diverse, multigenerational, and multicultural creative communities that define the Valley today. The exhibition traces subcultural histories of the San Fernando Valley: punk, queer, immigrant, Chicanx/Latinx, lowrider, skate, and street aesthetics through the lens of 15 contemporary artists whose work both preserves and reimagines these cultural lineages. By reimagining “Betty” as a term of self-determination and empowerment, the exhibition shatters long-standing misconceptions about creative production in the Valley and the artists and makers who have driven that production.
Contribute to the Digital Archive & Exhibition Zine
Everyone might think they know a Betty. Everyone might think they know the Valley. But how much of what we know comes from lived experience, and how much comes from the stories we’ve been told?
Now we want to hear your version.
Do you remember the backyard where everyone gathered, the venue that gave your friends a first chance to perform, the skate spot that became a second home, or the family business that kept a neighborhood connected? Maybe you have a photograph tucked away, a flyer from a legendary show, a set list, a journal page, a tattoo design, or a story that has been passed down for years? Maybe you were part of a scene that no one outside the Valley ever understood? Maybe you helped create something that still echoes today?
Alongside the exhibition, we are building a digital community archive that honors the people whose lives, work, creativity, and care made – and continue to make – the Valley what it is. We want to hear from the people who were there, the people who are still here, the families who held it together, and those whose stories never made it into the official record.
This is an invitation to share the Valley as you know it: complicated, creative, funny, rebellious, beautiful, and full of life. We are looking for the memories and materials that reveal the people behind the stereotypes and the communities behind the clichés.
Your contribution can help tell a larger story. You do not need to be a professional artist, writer, or historian to participate. A snapshot, a couple paragraphs, a handwritten note, or a piece of ephemera can open a window into a time, a place, and a community. Every contribution will help build a growing digital archive preserved on a dedicated webpage as an ongoing public record of the Valley’s cultural history.
In addition to the digital archive, a small selection of the written stories and text-based contributions will be featured in the printed BETTY exhibition zine alongside content from the exhibition artists and curators. Fifteen pages of the zine will be dedicated to community submissions from across the Valley.
Share the story you remember. Share the image you saved. Share the piece of Valley history that belongs to you.
We're looking for:
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Photos from events – such as shows, car clubs, skate spots, bars, backyards
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Personals photos of you, your family, and friends
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Flyers, set lists, ticket stubs, patches, tattoo flash
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Poems, journal pages, lyrics
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Collage, drawings, handmade ephemera
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Family stories: the tía who ran the club, the brother who started a band, the friend who threw the parties