Copley Connects Fall 2025 / Spring 2026

Writing in Visual Form: noé olivas’ Neon Art Installation By Millie Fullmer , Acquisitions and Cataloging Librarian

Since Copley’s 2020 renovation, there is space to display inviting works of art by a diverse range of artists. None have been more popular to take pictures with than a neon light installation by USD alum, educator, and artist noé olivas. The multimedia artist was raised in San Diego and is now based in Los Angeles. He received a BFA at USD in 2013 followed by an MFA at USC. I recently met with noé online to discuss his eye-catching piece titled Que sueñes con los angelitos (a circular neon sign in Spanish that in English translates to “may you dream of little angels”). After researching the work, I found it was originally part of a site-specific installation titled Let’s Pray at UCLA’s Hammer Museum, surrounded by multi-media conceptual pieces paying homage to what noé refers to as the “poetics of labor,” which led me to ask if the meaning had changed due to its new location. His answer was yes and no. At the Hammer it was intentionally located in a hidden corner of the outdoor courtyard to be viewed by the afterhours maintenance crew as a special thank you for their invisible but essential labor. When the work was installed in Copley it took on a more personal message as tribute to noé’s parents, who as USD employees used their tuition benefits to give their son a great college education. He smiles

then, mentioning how his wish for the neon piece was to only light up at 4:00 PM in honor of his parent’s shift ending. The text displayed is most commonly known as a bedtime prayer said to a child and reflects the artist’s Mexican Catholic heritage. The sentiment is also an aspirational one for people to emulate angels here on earth by helping others, something he attributes to the service of libraries as free spaces to access knowledge, attend workshops, and other community events. Now that I understood the meaning behind this piece, my curiosity was piqued to know the story behind its physical manifestation. Pondering this, we go down a side topic as noé explains “I sometimes struggle with how involved I can be, a negotiation of sorts, what I am open to letting go of and what must have my hand in it. I have to accept I’m not a master in every medium and want to honor those who are. One of the challenges as a multi-disciplinary artist is having to learn or re-learn certain skills either with someone or by myself. There’s that give and take. I think about my work as writing in visual form. Just like essays, poetry, and other genres of literature — the content determines the material. I’m trained as a conceptual artist, but I also want to find the human heart in my work.”

noé olivas stands in front of his Que sueñes con los angelitos

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