Theresa Escobedo (b. 1985) Theresa Escobedo is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and arts administrator currently living and working in Houston, Texas. She studied at the University of Houston and received a Bachelor Degree of Architecture in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design with a focus on community planning. She manages Civic Art for the City of Houston through the Mayor’s Office of Cultural affairs and is a current Artist in Residence at the Zocalo Artist Residency through the year 2020. As an artist, her work intersects ancestry, history, and spiritualism, and most recently merges ideas on land, nature, and the act of pilgrimaging. This effort combines expressions of the artist’s cultural heritage with intellectual, emotional, and spiritual considerations to demonstrate and ultimately represent cosmopolitan influences and spiritual perspectives. For this exhibition, the artist presents Journeying: Land, Memory, and the Realm of the Spirit, an ongoing series of photographic works which document pivotal moments in the artist’s spiritual evolution, her journey toward intergenerational healing, and the dawning of deep self-knowingness developed from the pursuit of ancestral connection. The presentation of this series is complimented by a site-specific altar installation, An Ofrenda for Our Wounded Hearts, which invites public participation and collaboration. Visitors to the installation are encouraged to drop-off or send in mementos or symbolic objects to be added to the ofrenda as offerings and petitions for collective heart healing as we together face unprecedented challenges in our social, political, and economic climates. EDUCATION2011 Post Baccalaureate study, Fine Arts and Art History, University of St. Thomas Houston, Houston, Texas, United States2010 Post Baccalaureate study, Photography/Digital Media, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States2008 Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Science of Environmental Design, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States2004 National Hispanic Institute Summer Language Program, Brethren Colleges Abroad, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE2020 - Administrative Coordinator for Civic Art, Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs2019 - 2020 Project Manager, Arts District Houston2018 - 2020 Resident Curator, MECA Houston2018 - 2019 Director of Exhibitions and Events, The Union HTX2012 – 2018 Co-Founder / Director, Main Street Projects2015 – 2016 Director, Unix Gallery Houston2013 – 2015 Assistant Director, Deborah Colton Gallery2012 – 2013 Lead Workshop Instructor, Houston Center for Photography2011 – 2012 Associate Director, Deborah Colton Gallery2011 – 2012 Education Assistant, Houston Center for Photography,2007 – 2010 Graduate Assistant, Communications/Media, Texas Learning & Computation Center, University of Houston EXHIBITIONS2019 Herencia Reclamada, Zocalo Apartments Artist in Residency, Houston, TexasINTERSECTIONS, Presa House Gallery, San Antonio, Texas2018 Ephemeral Instant, Main Street Projects, Houston, Texas2018 FotoFest Biennial: El Chow: La Fruta en Vaina, El Rincon Social, Houston, Texas2017 Open Studios, El Rincon Social, Houston, Texas2016 Fotos y Artefactos, Flight Gallery, San Antonio, TexasRATIO V, Photography Exhibition, El Rincon Social, Houston, Texas2015 RATIO IV, Photography Exhibition, El Rincon Social, Houston, Texas2014 RATIO III, Photography Exhibition, El Rincon Social, Houston, TexasGrow, Main Street Projects, Houston, TexasTerra Nullius, Alonzo Gallery, Houston, Texas2013 RATIO II, Photography Exhibition, El Rincon Social, Houston, TexasA Likeness, Main Street Projects, Houston, TexasUprooted, Main Street Projects, Houston, Texas2013 Print Auction Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, Houston Texas2012 #HCPinteractive, Houston Center for Photography, Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, Texas30th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas; Juried by Anne Wilkes-TuckerFacsimiles of Time and Beauty, The Lens Capsule, 2012 Fotofest Biennial, Houston, Texas2010 The Mix, Winter Street Studios, Houston, Texas PANEL DISCUSSIONS2020 Conversation Series: Adapting and Staying Resilient, Fresh Arts; featuring Theresa Escobedo and Jaime Roberston2019 DIY Events, 2019 FreshArts Artists’ Summit; with Mandy Clinton, Theresa Escobedo, and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Moderated by Reyes Ramirez2016 Walking and Talking Around Architecture, Sculpture, and the Female Body; Thursday, March 16, 6 - 8 pm, DiverseWorks; Houston, Texas; Discussion with Theresa Escobedo, Evan McCarley, Jennifer Traina-Dorge, and DiverseWorks Curator Rachel CookReviving Houston's Lost Art History, 2016 Houston Art Fair; Houston, Texas; Discussion with Patricia Covo Johnson, Pete Gershon, Chelby King, and Catherine Anspon2012 #HCPinteractive, Houston Center for Photography, Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, Texas; Discussion with Travis McCarra, Michael Garcia, Theresa Escobedo, and Bevin Bering DubrowskiSELECT CURATORIAL PROJECTS2019 Retablos32, MECA Houston, HoustonHombres Sinceros, MECA Houston, Houston, Texas; co-curated with Jimmy Castillo HUB | HTX, Main Street Projects, Houston, Texas Generation One, The Union, Houston, Texas Poems, Protest, and a Dream..., MECA Houston, Houston, Texas2018 Retablos31, MECA Houston, Houston, TexasMujeres del Sur, The Union, Houston, TexasEphemeral Instant, Main Street Projects, Houston, Texas2017 Open Studios, El Rincon Social, Houston, Texas2016 Proof, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas2015 Collective Solid, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas2014 Angelbert Metoyer: Seasons of Heaven, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, TexasTerra Nullius, Alonzo Gallery, Houston, Texas2013 Uprooted, Main Street Projects, Houston, Texas2012 #HCPinteractive, Co-Curator, Houston Center for Photography, TexasContemporary Art Fair, Houston, Texas PUBLICATIONSByLine Houston, contributing authorGlasstire.com, contributing authorWhat’s The New News, contributing authorNot That But This, contributing author MEDIAThe Houston Chronicle, July 2020The Houston Chronicle, July 2020Glasstire.com, April 2020The Houston Chronicle, November 2019Houston Public Media, October 2019Houston Public Media, August 2019The Houston Chronicle, August 2019Fox 26 News, March 2019Glasstire.com, March 2019Glasstire.com, February 2019ByLine Houston, January 2019The Houston Review, November 2018Houstonia Magazine, October 2018Houston Press, October 2018Glasstire.com, October 2018The Wall Street Journal, April 2016PaperCity Magazine, April 2016Houstonia Magazine, March 2016Houston Press, March 2016Houstonia Magazine, March 2016L'Oeil de la Photographie, March 2016Glasstire Texas, March 2016Glasstire Texas, March 2016Houstonia Magazine, March 2016Local Houston Magazine, February 2016Houston Press, January 2016PaperCity Magazine, July 2015CultureMap Houston, July 2015PaperCity Magazine, March 2015Glasstire Texas, March 2014CultureMap Houston, July 201390.1 FM KPFT - Pacifica Houston Texas, April 2013CultureMap Houston, April 2013ABC - Channel 13 KTRK, March 2013CultureMap Houston, January 2013Glasstire Texas, January 2013Arts + Culture Magazine, December 2012Free Press Houston, December 2012CultureMap Houston, July 2012Glasstire Texas, March 2012