natalia ventura (she/her) is an artist and activist who lives, works, and hails from San Diego (Kumeyaay land). She leads a double studio/social art practice that reflects the duality of her borderlands consciousness. Her studio work explores her internal experiences as a Mexican-Cuban-American woman, while her social practice work engages in grassroots organizing for social and environmental justice at the San Diego-Tijuana border. natalia earned her BA in peace studies from Chapman University with a self-designed minor in aesthetic activism. She is rooted in a creative and personal practice of radical love, and aims to simultaneously liberate herself and her community through art.

grants & residencies

2023-2024 California Arts Council Far South/ Border North Grant

2022-2023 Artists at Work Borderlands Initiative Residency

2022 City of Chula Vista Create Chula Vista Grant

2022 The FRONT Arte & Cultura New Native Narratives Art Apprenticeship

exhibitions

2024 (group show) Cuéntame at The FRONT Arte & Cultura in San Ysidro, California, Curator and Exhibitor

2024 (three-person exhibition) Their Wall, Out Canvas at Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center in San Diego, California, Curator and Exhibitor

2023 (two-person exhibition) La Tierra es Testigo/ The Land is Witness at The FRONT Arte & Cultura in San Ysidro, California

2022 (group exhibition) New Native Narratives at The FRONT Arte & Cultura in San Ysidro, California

2022 (group exhibition) love is an action at The FRONT Arte & Cultura in San Ysidro, California

press

2022 KPBS 5 Works of art to see in San Diego this summer