"You, if no one else" will be on view Jan. 20-March 31 at the Arlington Arts Center with the opening reception on Jan. 20 from 6-9 p.m. This show features 10 contemporary artists and collaborations.

The show looks at the many-layered nuances of how artists interact with, engage in, and protest against, politics and civic life. "At a time of substantial turbulence, 'You, if no one else' champions the role artists can play in supporting and expanding our democratic traditions and political institutions."

The title was inspired by Tino Villanueva's poem of the same name.

"... defend everything you understand

with words

You if no one else

will condemn with your tongue

the erosion each disappointment brings."

The show includes the spectrum of artistic modalities from Lizania Cruz's “Flowers for Immigration” depicting flower arrangements created by undocumented bodega workers in New York City to Phillip Buehler's large scale panoramas in small, enclosed structures to Mel Day and Michael Namkung’s videos merging pictures and voices of hundreds of participants singing “Hallelujah.”

The Arlington Arts Center is located at 3550 Wilson Blvd. It was established in 1974 as a non-profit contemporary visual arts center that presents and supports work by regional artists. It has nine exhibition spaces, working spaces for 13 artists, and three classrooms.