KINGSVILLE (September 16, 2026) — The School of Arts, Communications and Literature at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) presents an exhibition and a symposium on the art of Santa Barraza, a nationally renowned artist and former professor at TAMUK. Barraza is known for her work that deals with the themes of the borderlands.
The project, entitled Dreaming Nepantla: Exhibition and Symposium on the Art of Santa Barraza, is the first to present a symposium regarding her work and creating a new scholarship honoring one of Texas’ leading artists.
“Barraza has had a fundamental impact on Chicana art over the years, dealing with themes of life along the United States border using the language of Mesoamerican and regional folk cultures,” said Dr. Liz Kim, assistant professor of art history. “This convening program will examine Barraza’s career, between the different periods in her life, and the various series she worked on throughout.”
The exhibition is on display now through Saturday, Nov. 12, in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery, 916 W. Santa Gertrudis, on the TAMUK campus. The Bailey Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, and the symposium will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in the Little Theatre.
To register for the symposium, please visit https://tinyurl.com/dreamingnepantla. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Dr. Kim at liz.kim@tamuk.edu or 361-593-3081.
About Santa Barraza
Santa Barraza is a nationally and internationally recognized Chicana/Tejana artist and a native of Kingsville. She earned her BFA and MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and has taught at institutions in the United States and abroad, including Texas A&M University-Kingsville, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Penn State University.
Her work explores the cultural, historical, and spiritual landscape of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, drawing on personal memory; South Texas history; and Indigenous and Mesoamerican imagery. Central to her practice is the concept of Nepantla, or the “land between,” as a space of cultural intersection, memory, and transformation.
Barraza’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe and is represented in numerous public and institutional collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, and universities and research institutions in Germany, Spain, Austria, and France.
Her many honors include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mexic-Arte Museum and the Tejano Heritage Award from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. In 2001, Texas A&M University Press published Santa Barraza: Artist of the Borderlands, which received the Southwest Book Award.
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