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Education
2013 Latin American Studies | Communications, B.A.
University of Texas at Austin
2013 African Diaspora in Central America
UT-Austin Research Program
Bluefields, Nicaragua
2009 Indigenous Social & Political Movements
UC-Davis Research Program
Chiapas, Mexico
Fellowships
2019 Magnum Foundation Photography & Social Justice Fellowship
2019 National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Leadership Institute
Grants | Awards
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, shortlisted
2018 Photobook Biennial of Cork, Ireland, selected
2017 National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Mentorship Grant, awardee
2016 Fotoseptiembre Exhibition Choice: La Pulga, 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
Publications
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 Magazine, print. 2016-2017
Mujeres en Medio, Co-founder & Editor, digital. 2013-2017
Photography Clients | Assignments
California Sunday Magazine | Buzzfeed News | The Intercept | Google | Vox | Remezcla | The Land | Amplifier Art | Harness | Obey Giant | La Liga | Girls Like Us | The Current | Contemporary Art Review LA
Published on: NPR, LA Times, LA Weekly, and Vice.
Film | Videography
2019 Director of Photography
Documentary short directed by Sarah Garrahan (in production), Los Angeles, CA
2018 Production Assistant
Jamaica Y Tamarindo documentary directed by Ebony Bailey, Tijuana, Mexico
2017 Videographer
Woman of the Water documentary directed by Tahila Mintz, Sonora, Mexico
2016 Director & Videographer
Sagrada Feminina documentary short, Veracruz, Mexico
Teaching Artist
Teaching Artist & Curriculum Developer
Las Fotos Project, Los Angeles, CA
Courses: Esta Soy Yo: Portraits of Home, FLOW, Power of Pink, Esta Soy Yo: Imprints, Esta Soy Yo: Inspirational Migrant Women
Visiting Teaching Artist
Club Balam, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Session: Documenting Water Issues
Visiting Teaching Artist
The Lower Eastside Girls Club, New York, NY
Sessions: Photographing Community, Portraiture and Empowerment, FLOW: A Discussion on Water
Speaking Engagements
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 & Photo Workshop, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
2019 Mediums: Storytelling as Art, Dept. of African American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
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 and Dismantling Power Structures, Illustrating Anarchy & Revolution Conference, University of Texas at Austin, TX
Collections
Femme Frontera | Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
La Pulga | Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
La Pulga | Harvard Library Special Collections, Cambridge, MA
We the People - Defend Dignity | Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
My Mother's Passport | Department of Arts & Culture, San Antonio, TX
Photography of Oaxaca | MexicArte Museum, Austin, TX
Residencies
2017 Book-Making & Independent Publishing
Homie House Press, Washington, DC
2013 Political Graphics Archiving
Museo de la Palabra Y La Imagen,
San Salvador, El Salvador
2012 Printmaking with Mario Guzmán
Espacio Zapata, Oaxaca City, Mexico
Solo Exhibitions
2016 La Pulga curated by Lady Base Gallery and r.l. Rodriguez, R Space, San Antonio, TX
Group Exhibitions
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
Experience | Internships
2017-2018 Collaborating Artist
Obey Giant, Los Angeles, CA
2016-2017 Collaborator & Creative Consultant
We the People Campaign, Amplifier Art
2015 Digital Photography Curator
San Anto Cultural Arts, San Antonio, TX
2014 Administrative Assistant
Self Help Graphics & Art, Boyle Heights, CA
2012-2013 Audio Archive Intern
Human Rights Documentation Initiative
LLILAS & Benson Collection, Austin, TX
2012-2013 Co-founder & Producer
Radio Libre, KVRX
University of Texas, Austin, TX
2012-2013 Community Organizer
Workers Defense Project, Austin, TX
2007-2011 PR Coordinator & Culture Programmer
Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural, Sylmar, CA
Associations
Women Photograph, member
The Authority Collective, member
Espacio Migrante, board member
Selected Press
Remezcla “7 Latino-Focused Exhibitions to Check Out at Los Angeles’ Photoville” by Cristina Noriega, April 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, “The Year in Pictures: The Best Photography Remezcla Featured in 2016” by Itzel Alejandra Martinez, Dec. 2016
Remezcla, "These Powerful Portraits Find Beauty in the Vaqueros & Vendedoras of San Antonio" by Andrew Vargas, Dec. 2016
Houston Chronicle, ""Arlene Mejorado's Pulga Series" by Madalyn Mendoza, 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
Praxis Center, Kalamazoo College, "Monthly Artist Feature: Arlene Mejorado", 2015