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Home › News & Events › News › UT-Austin names alumna Varela early career fellow

UT-Austin names alumna Varela early career fellow

November 7, 2022
University of Arizona School of Art master’a alumna Bella Maria Varela has been named a prestigious Early Career Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin as part of its Expanding Approaches to American Arts initiative. For the next two years, the 2021 Master of Fine Arts graduate in Photo, Video and Imaging will receive research funding, studio space and robust mentorship at UT-Austin to help prepare for a career in academia. Varela moved to El Paso, Texas, after graduation to attend the Border Art Residency (BAR), where she helped establish a new arts and philosophy program — Transformative Learning Communities — in elChamizal, a barrio on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Bella Maria Varela
The artist uses video and cultural objects to explore the intersections of immigration, sexuality and gender identity. At UT-Austin, her teaching focuses on combining found objects, digital, photography, green screen performances, and experimental video into non-traditional and virtual classroom environments to guide students to explore their relationship with space, culture and community. “We are thrilled to welcome Bella . . . into our community of artists and scholars,” said Raquel Monroe, a College of Fine Arts associate dean at UT-Austin. “(Her) curiosity and transdisciplinary methodologies are inspiring.” Varela, whose parents were Guatemalan immigrants, grew up in inner-city Washington D.C. At the University of Arizona, Varela served as a facilitator with the Common Ground Alliance and QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color). Using photography, video and installation work, Varela’s artwork explored her identity as a first-generation Latinx women exploring and reclaiming American landscapes. “I cut and reconfigure iconic material to skewer mainstream anti-immigration rhetoric, subvert the appropriation of Latinx culture and queer mythologies of Americanness,” Varela said.

Her practice is rooted in the resourceful legacy of immigrant hustlers, which has compelled her to not only collect but also corrupt and alter found objects and images to amplify the power dynamics inherent within it.

In April 2022, during her Border Art Residency in El Paso, she presented a mixed media installation at a Las Cruces, New Mexico, gallery entitled “@Border Becky,” which she also exhibited at the University of Arizona Museum of Art during her studies. It combined photography and two videos with fleece blanket assemblages to explore the intersection of immigration and gender identity through the lens of contemporary pop culture and mass media.

At the University of Arizona, she received first place in the 5 Minute Film Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Tucson for her work titled “Triathlon” and was accepted into the Mellon-Fronteridades Graduate Fellowship Program. Varela attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she majored in Mass Communication and minored in Photography. After receiving her undergrad degree, she returned to Washington to serve as a museum assistant at the Phillips Collection, assistant manager at the Renwick Gallery Store, and as arts program coordinator with All Our Kids DC.

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University of Arizona School of Art
1 day ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Our final VASE lecture of the spring will feature artist Walid Raad on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Creative Photography. Details: vase.art.arizona.edu/walid-raad/

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Our final VASE lecture of the spring will feature artist Walid Raad on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Creative Photography. Details: https://vase.art.arizona.edu/walid-raad/ 

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University of Arizona School of Art
2 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Regents Professor Sama Alshaibi presented to a packed house Saturday in Denver as the closing speaker for the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Conference. The day before, speakers Clare Benson (MFA ’13), Tomiko Jones (MFA ’08) and Kaitlyn Jo Smith (MFA '20) and more alums joined Sama and Prof. Martina Shenal, grad student Nathan Cordova and others at Henry's Tavern for a reunion get-together! tinyurl.com/4p6bywwe

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Regents Professor Sama Alshaibi presented to a packed house Saturday in Denver as the closing speaker for the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Conference. The day before, speakers Clare Benson (MFA ’13), Tomiko Jones (MFA ’08) and Kaitlyn Jo Smith (MFA 20) and more alums joined Sama and Prof. Martina Shenal, grad student Nathan Cordova and others at Henrys Tavern for a reunion get-together! https://tinyurl.com/4p6bywwe

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University of Arizona School of Art
4 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Ph.D. student Sedona Heidinger was among six presenters at today's "Collective" Art History Symposium at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Other speakers were Barbie Kim, Bentley Brown, Shen Qu, Gabriel Quick and Dr. Gregory Sholette (keynote). Director Colin Blakely opened the event, which also included a Collective exhibition at the Palo Verde Gallery (Grad Studios). Go to tinyurl.com/2p9eeshm for more details. Congrats to the School of Art's Graduate Council and Art History Graduate Student Association for organizing the symposium and exhibition! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona ... See MoreSee Less

Ph.D. student Sedona Heidinger was among six presenters at todays Collective Art History Symposium at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Other speakers were Barbie Kim, Bentley Brown, Shen Qu, Gabriel Quick and Dr. Gregory Sholette (keynote). Director Colin Blakely opened the event, which also included a Collective exhibition at the Palo Verde Gallery (Grad Studios). Go to https://tinyurl.com/2p9eeshm for more details. Congrats to the School of Arts Graduate Council and Art History Graduate Student Association for organizing the symposium and exhibition! Arizona Arts The University of ArizonaImage attachmentImage attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
4 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Hooray to all our undergrads who presented their work at yesterday's BFA and UAUA exhibition reception at the Gross and Rombach galleries. And special thanks to Gallery Director lydia see! UAUA runs until March 24, and BFA ends April 3, so there's still time to see the shows! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of Art ... See MoreSee Less

Hooray to all our undergrads who presented their work at yesterdays BFA and UAUA exhibition reception at the Gross and Rombach galleries. And special thanks to Gallery Director lydia see! UAUA runs until March 24, and BFA ends April 3, so theres still time to see the shows! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of ArtImage attachmentImage attachment+Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
5 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Art History Prof. Sarah Moore is a board member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), which is holding its second annual online symposium March 23-24.

Moore will chair one of the sessions at the event, which features academic papers and top designers involved in exposition design. ISIE is the brainchild of UA Architectural History Prof. Lisa Schrenk.

Register by March 22 at shorturl.at/orwHV. Go to www.isie-global.org/ for the panel schedule and more info.

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Art History Prof. Sarah Moore is a board member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), which is holding its second annual online symposium March 23-24. 

Moore will chair one of the sessions at the event, which features academic papers and top designers involved in exposition design. ISIE is the brainchild of UA Architectural History Prof. Lisa Schrenk.

Register by March 22 at shorturl.at/orwHV. Go to https://www.isie-global.org/ for the panel schedule and more info. 

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona UA College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture ISIE_Global
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University of Arizona School of Art
5 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Read our March newsletter! ... See MoreSee Less

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SOA newsletter: Prestigious fellowships, Walton's chair and more!

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Newsletter March 2023 March 2023 Saracino receives prestigious fellowship Art History prof to work on 1st book manuscript at Huntington Library Jennifer Saracino spoke at Chicago's Newberry Library in
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