AAHHE William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award

The AAHHE William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to the understanding of the national Latino community and/or culture through the fine, creative, and performing arts.

2023 William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award Recipient

Maria De Los Angeles is a Mexican-born, American artist who addresses ideas of migration, belonging, and identity through her drawing, painting, printmaking, and wearable sculptures. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Art (2015), a BFA from Pratt Institute (2013), and an Associate Degree from Santa Rosa Junior College (2010). Maria was awarded the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize by Yale University (2015) for her artwork and her role within her community. She has been an Artist in Residence at MASS MOCA, El Museo del Barrio, LACMA, and Oregon Center for the Arts & Schneider Museum of Art. Solo exhibitions at Schneider Museum of Art (2018 & 2019), the Museum of Sonoma County (2019), and Goggleworks (2022). Group exhibitions at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, LACMA, Self Help Graphics, and the San Diego Mesa College. Her artwork is on view in We the People: The Radical Notions of Democracy at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Public murals include Glen Ellen, California (2021), Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital (2022), and an upcoming mural for Santa Rosa Junior College (2023). Her artwork is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Sonoma County, the Green Family Art Foundation, the Marcus Collection, and the Jack Leissring Studio. De Los Angeles was a faculty at Pratt Institute, FIT, and SOU. She is currently a full-time Critic and Assistant Director of Painting and Printmaking at the Yale School of Art. Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Artnet, New York Magazine, HelloGiggles, and The Observer. IG @delosangelesart

List of Past William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award Recipients: