In conjunction with the many NCECA festivities taking place throughout Sacramento, the Crocker will host one of the conference's cornerstone events, Belonging , the 2022 NCECA Annual Exhibition. Featuring works from invited artists Alex Anderson, Natalia Arbelaez, Habiba El-Sayed, Cannupa Hanska Luger, and Salvador Jiménez-Flores, as well as more than fifty pieces selected through an open call for submissions, these diverse ceramic artists explore the important concepts of belonging and identity in their individual practices.

Guest curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy explains the curatorial premise of the exhibition:

A sense of belonging implies an affinity or connectedness with a place, social or cultural group. Belonging is survival. It is a powerful feeling that shapes our identity. Belonging explores the intangible and tangible approaches we engage in developing and maintaining our sense of connectedness across time and space and also relates to ownership or possession, an interpretation that has caused much harm to humans, non-human species, and natural resources.