CV

Education

Visual Arts, M.F.A.
University of California San Diego

Latin American Studies | Communications, B.A.
University of Texas at Austin


Fellowships + Labs

2024   New York Portfolio Review
2023   Magnum Foundation Photography and Performance Lab at Columbia University, NY
2021   DocX Archive Lab at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University 
2019   Photography & Social Justice Fellowship, Magnum Foundation, NY
2019   National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Leadership Institute, San 
Antonio, Texas

Residencies

2024   Center for Photography at Woodstock Artist Residency
2022   Photography AIR Program, Taller F, Guadalajara, Mexico
2013   Political Prints and Graphics, Museo de la Palabra Y La Imagen, San Salvador, El Salvador


Public Art Commissions

2022   Caricias, Metro Photographic Lightbox Series, Hollywood & Highland Station, Los Angeles, CA  
2017   We the People Defend Dignity collaboration with Shepard Fairey, Amplifier Art, Los Angeles, CA 

2016   East of Center: Locals in Focus, Luminaria Arts Festival, San Antonio, TX

Solo Exhibitions

2023   a landscape holds you still, SME Gallery, University of California San Diego
2022   Desterrando Archivos, curated by Erika Hirugami, Tiro al Blanco, Guadalajara, Mexico
2021   Breathing Exteriors: re-Placements of Memory, Commons Gallery, San Diego, CA
2016   La Pulga curated by Lady Base Gallery and r.l. Rodriguez, R Space, San Antonio, TX

Group Exhibitions

2023   NextGen2023, Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego
2023   Sites of Blood and Water, curated by beck haberstroh and Naomi Nadreau, Vielmetter Los Angeles
2023   MudKin: Mapping Adobe & Land-based Indigenous & Latinx Projects, curated by Tracy Fenix, Roski Mateo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022   Tierra Entre Medio, curated by Christina Fernandez & Joanna Szupinska, Culver Center of the Arts, Riverside, CA
2022   The Sun Doesn't Mean to Be So Hot, West Gallery, Cal State University Northridge, Northridge, CA
2021   Desterrando Terrenos, New Wight Gallery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2020   A través de las sombras, Pyramid Hill Museum, Hamilton, OH
2020   #ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2019   Dissent: Zine Culture (And the Voices You Wouldn't Hear Otherwise), University of Texas at Austin, TX
2019   Photoplay, Galeria Guadalupe, San Antonio, TX
2019   Women & the American West curated by Women Photograph, Photoville, Los Angeles, CA
2018   Remedios Sagrados, Luminaria Arts Festival, San Antonio, TX
2018   R.E.S.P.E.C.T., Lower Eastside Girls Club, New York, NY
2018   The Lit List curated by The Authority Collective, Photoville, Brooklyn, NY
2018   Mirame Bien curated by Rudy “Bleu” Garcia, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018   Fotografia y nuevos medios: Selections from the Permanent Collection, MexicArte Museum, Austin, TX
2017   Entre Orillas: Borderlands Photography, Galeria Guadalupe, San Antonio, TX
2017   Mi Comida, Mi Cultura curated by Sean Fitzgibbons, Centro de Artes, San Antonio, TX  
2017   East of Center: Locals In Focus, Luminaria Arts Festival, San Antonio, TX
2016   SATX | MX: Un viaje lleno de cultura, Centro de Artes, San Antonio, TX  
2016   Multiples: Artists Within Our Midst, Galeria Guadalupe, San Antonio, TX  
2015   Soy Mujer, Espacio 1839, Boyle Heights, CA  
2014   Illustrating Anarchy and Revolution, MexicArte Museum, Austin, TX  
2013   LLILAS Student Photo Exhibit, Benson Latin American Collection, Austin, TX

Photography Clients

Vogue | The California Sunday Magazine | The Intercept | Vogue Mexico | Google | The Atlantic | ProPublica | The Guardian | Bloomberg | Pop-Up Magazine | Slate | Magnum Foundation | Vox | The Nation | Buzzfeed News | Food and Wine Magazine | Remezcla | Amplifier Art | Illuminative | Harness | UCLA Labor Center | Obey Giant | La Liga | Girls Like Us | The Current | Contemporary Art Review LA | Economic Hardship Reporting Project | AltaMed Art Collection  |  The Many Agency


Film  |  Director of Photography

2022   Director of Photography, A Special Friendship (16mm), written and directed by Hazel Katz, Los Angeles, CA
2020   Director of Photography, Passersby, directed by Sarah Garrahan, Los Angeles, CA


Digital Archiving

2023-2024   Digitizer & Database Management, AltaMed Art Collection, Montebello, CA
2013             Digitizing Intern, Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen, San Salvador, El Salvador
2011-2013   Archives Intern, Human Rights Documentation Initiative, Benson Collection, Austin, TX  

Publications

Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, Volume 47, UCLA, print. Spring 2022
#ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis, G Editions, print. 2021
Óptica 2nd edition, ESTE Archive, print. 2021  
En Mi Piel: Colorism & Latinidad, La Liga Zine, print. 2018
Femme Frontera, Homie House Press, print. 2017
La Pulga, Deep Red Press, print. 2017
Óptica 1st edition, print. 2016              
Mujeres en Medio, co-founder & editor, digital. 2013-2017


Grants  |  Awards

2023    Aperture Creator Labs Photo Fund, awardee
2021    Visual Arts Russell Grant, awardee
2020    Strategic Enhancement Excellence through Diversity Scholarship, awardee
2020    Competitive Edge Research Fellowship Award, awardee
2018    Lucie Foundation Independent Photo Book Award, awardee
2018    Women Photograph Workshop, selected
2018    Authority Collective, The Lit List, awardee
2018    Lucie Foundation Emerging Artist Scholarship, finalist
2018    Photobook Biennial of Cork, Ireland, selected
2017    National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Mentorship Grant, awardee
2016    Fotoseptiembre Exhibition Audience Choice Award, awardee
2016    Luminaria Public Arts Grant, awardee
2015    FilmInitiativ African Film Festival, official selection  
2013    Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Collaboratory Scholarship, awardee
2012    Lozano Long Institute of Latin America Studies Academic Scholarship, awardee


Collections 

La Pulga  |  Harvard Library Special Collections, Cambridge, MA
We the People - Defend Dignity  |  Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Femme Frontera  |  Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
La Pulga  |  Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Femme Frontera  |  Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, Austin, TX
La Pulga  |  Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, Austin, TX
My Mother's Passport  |  Department of Arts & Culture, San Antonio, TX  
Photography of Oaxaca  |  MexicArte Museum, Austin, TX


Speaking Engagements

2024   Guest lecture, Oral History Master of Arts program, Columbia University, NY
2024   Photographic Strategies, Visual Arts Dept., University of California, San Diego, CA
2023   Begovich Gallery Artist Lecture Series, California State University Fullerton
2022   Arlene Mejorado in Conversation with Christina Fernandez, University of California, Riverside, CA
2022   Ethics and Equity in Photography, Duke University, Durham, NC
2022   Color Photography, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC
2021   Social Engagement Photography, Visual Arts Dept., University of California, San Diego, CA
2020   Guest lecture, Ethnic Studies Dept., University of California, Berkeley, CA
2019   Radical Listening & Passionate Observation Workshop, The Poetry Foundation, Chicago, IL
2019   Artist Talk, The Value of Sanctuary: Building a House Without Walls, St. John the Divine, New York, NY
2019   Las Fotos Project presents Flow, The International Day of Forests, United Nations, New York, NY
2019   Artist Talk, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
2019   Guest lecture, Dept. of African American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
2019   Process & Place: Artist Panel Platica, La Plaza de Culturas Y Artes, Los Angeles, CA
2018   Power of Pink Artist Panel, Photoville, Brooklyn, NY
2018   Damaged: Exhibit Roundtable, Los Angeles, CA
2017   How We Do It: Conversation with Women Photographers, The Main Museum, Los Angeles, CA  
2016   La Pulga: Artist Talk, R Space Gallery, San Antonio, TX  
2016   Latin American Communication, Research in Transitions Conference, TAMIU, Laredo, TX
2014   Women Narratives Dismantling Power Structures, Illustrating Anarchy & Revolution Conference, University of Texas, Austin, TX

Teaching Experience

2023-2024   Teaching Artist, Las Fotos Project, Los Angeles, CA
2021-2022   Teaching Assistant, Intro to Digital Photography, Visual Arts department, University of California San Diego
2021             Contributor, Eyes Open workbook by Susan Meiselas, Aperture Foundation, NY
2020             Visiting Teaching Artist,  Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, CA    
2019             Lesson Plan Developer, United Photo Industries, Annenberg Space for Photography
                      Lesson Plan: Not So Basic
2017-2019   Teaching Artist & Curriculum Developer, Las Fotos Project, Los Angeles, CA                
2018             Visiting Teaching Artist, Club Balam, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
2017-2018   Visiting Teaching Artist, The Lower Eastside Girls Club, New York, NY                   

Additional Education

Photography and Social Justice Seminar with Fred Ritchen
Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY

Photography and Education Training
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, NY

African Diaspora in Central America
University of Texas at Austin Research Program, Bluefields, Nicaragua

Indigenous Social & Political Movements
University of California Davis Research Program, Chiapas, Mexico
               


Selected Press
HereIn Journal "Dillon Chapman on Arlene Mejorado Part II" by Dillon Chapman, Aug. 2023
HereIn Journal "The Archive is a Palimpsest" by Dillon Chapman, July 2021
Los Angeles Times "Candid Vision, Tender Touch" by Elifete Paz, Nov. 2019
Teen Vogue "12 Radical Latinx Groups Building Powerful Cultural Community Spaces" by Stephanie Mendez, Oct. 2019
Vice, “Creating Spaces for Latinx Art Is a Matter of Healing and Survival” by Yeiry Guevara, Oct. 2018
Los Angeles Magazine "Artists of Color Capture the Beauty of Their Own Communities" by Eva Recinos, July 2018
The Washington Post - The Lily "Zine World Gives Creators Space for Power" by Ashley Nguyen, June 2018.
The Current, "Chicana Feelings' and 'Entre Orillas' Show How Visibility Can Be a Way of Healing" by Alejandra L. Gonzalez, Dec. 2017
LA Weekly, "Photographer Arlene Mejorado Gives the Camera the Angeleno Aesthetic" by Trina Calderon, Sept. 2017
LA Weekly, "How L.A.'s Latinas Are Telling Their Own Stories Through Photography" by Eva Recinos, Sept. 2017  
For Creative Girls, "Arlene Mejorado on Photography, Documentary, and Creating Meaningful Work", Feb. 2017
Obey Magazine, "Behind "Defend Dignity" Q+A with Arlene Mejorado and Maribel Hermosillo" by Illana Woods, Feb. 2017  
San Antonio Express-News, "Shepard Fairey Poster Based on Work by San Antonio Photographer" by Elda Silva, Jan. 2017
Remezcla, "These Powerful Portraits Find Beauty in the Vaqueros & Vendedoras of San Antonio" by Andrew Vargas, Dec. 2016
Deep Red Press, "La Pulga y la calle: Arlene Mejorado" by Raul Rodriguez, Nov. 2016
San Antonio Express-News, "Photographer Finds Her Art at the Flea Market" by Elda Silva, Aug. 2016

Arlene Mejorado

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