Visual Arts, M.F.A. (2023) University of California San Diego
Latin American Studies | Communications, B.A. University of Texas at Austin
African Diaspora in Central America UT-Austin Research Program, Bluefields, Nicaragua
Indigenous Social & Political Movements UC-Davis Research Program, Chiapas, Mexico
Fellowships
2021 Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University DocX Fellowship 2019 Magnum Foundation Photography & Social Justice Fellowship 2019 National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Leadership Institute
Residencies
2022 Photography AIR Program, Taller F, Guadalajara, Mexico 2013 Political Posters 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
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
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 | Pop-Up Magazine | Slate | Magnum Foundation | Vox | The Nation | Buzzfeed News | Food and Wine Magazine | Remezcla | Amplifier Art | Illuminative | Harness | Obey Giant | La Liga | Girls Like Us | The Current | Contemporary Art Review LA | Economic Hardship Reporting Project
Cinematography | DP
2022 Director of Photography, A Special Friendship shot on 16mm, written and directed by Hazel Katz, Los Angeles, CA 2020 Director of Photography, Passersby shot digitally, directed by Sarah Garrahan, Los Angeles, CAPublications
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
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
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
Experience
2020 Vogue & Magnum Photos Square Print Sale 2017-2018 Collaborating Artist Obey Giant, Los Angeles, CA 2014 Administrative Assistant
2018 Visiting Teaching Artist Club Balam, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico Lesson Plan/Project: Documenting Water Issues
2017-2018 Visiting Teaching Artist The Lower Eastside Girls Club, New York, NY Lesson Plan/Project: Portraiture and Empowerment, FLOW
University of Texas, Austin, TX
Associations
Harnes/We Will Harness, participant Women Photograph, member The Authority Collective, member Espacio Migrante, board member
Selected Press
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