Photography courtesy of the Piero F. Giunti.
Summer Bernal is a Los Angeles–based curator, producer, and arts professional whose practice centers on creating meaningful connections between artists, communities, and the spaces they inhabit. Raised in Highland Park, California, her relationship with art was not born from formal training alone, but from profound personal loss.
After the passing of her mother, Summer found herself searching for a way to give shape to grief. That search led her to create her first exhibition in her mother’s honor - it was a deeply personal experience centered around an altar that invited both her own work and contributions from members of her community. More than an exhibition, it became a shared space for remembrance, healing, and reflection. Through that process, Summer discovered that her true creative practice wasn’t only making art - it was bringing people together through it.
For more than fifteen years, Summer has cultivated a career that spans curatorial practice, public art, collections management, artist relations, exhibition production, event planning, photography, design, and creative project management. She has collaborated with internationally recognized artists, emerging voices, nonprofit organizations, healthcare institutions, and cultural partners, guiding projects from their earliest conversations through installation and public engagement.
At the heart of every project is a simple belief: art should help people feel more connected…to themselves, to one another, and to the stories that shape our communities. Whether coordinating large-scale murals, producing exhibitions, preserving cultural collections, or creating intimate experiences for artists and audiences alike, she approaches each opportunity with empathy, curiosity, and care.
For Summer, curation is an act of care. It is less about selecting objects and more about cultivating relationships between people, place, history, and possibility. She believes the role of a curator is to listen first…to artists, communities, and the stories waiting to be held with intention. Every project becomes an opportunity to honor lived experiences, amplify artists’ voices, and create spaces where people can see themselves reflected.
Today, based in Los Angeles, Summer continues to build projects that celebrate culture, memory, and belonging. Her work is rooted in compassion, guided by collaboration, and inspired by the enduring belief that art has the power to heal, preserve history, and create lasting connections across generations. Whether working behind the scenes or standing alongside artists as their ideas come to life, she remains committed to creating experiences that leave people feeling seen, connected, and moved.