The Nuestra Artist Collective members are from left: Tesa Morin, top row left, Melissa Gámez-Herrera, Lupita Murillo Tinnen, Karla García, Sara Herrera; bottom left, Michelle Cortez Gonzalez, Eliana Miranda, and Tina Medina. Photos by Kevin Todora, courtesy of Talley Dunn Gallery.

Talley Dunn Gallery awards Equity in the Arts Fellowship to Nuestra Artist Collective

The Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas, announces the 2023–2024 Equity in the Arts Fellowship has been awarded to Nuestra Artist Collective. The gallery is excited to recognize and support this group of talented artists: Michelle Cortes Gonzales, Tesa Morin, Melissa Gámez Herrera, Eliana Miranda, Lupita Murillo-Tinnen, Karla García, Tina Medina, and Sara Herrera, five of whom are UNT CVAD alumni.

The Equity in the Arts Fellowship was established in 2020 as a way for the gallery to support artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

The Nuestra Artist Collective aims to build connections that support our communities and create art projects and exhibitions that explore the intersections of identity, culture, and politics in Texas. Nuestra's mission is “a platform for women artists, including cis and trans women, non-binary and gender non-conforming people to encourage dialogue about the experiences of Xicana and Latine women.”

Nuestra Artist Collective es una plataforma para mujeres artistas, incluidas mujeres cis y trans, personas no binarias y de género no conforme, para fomentar el diálogo sobre las experiencias de las mujeres Xicana y Latine. Nuestro objetivo es construir conexiones que apoyen a nuestras comunidades y crear proyectos de arte y exhibiciones que exploren las intersecciones de identidad, cultura y política en Texas."

UNT CVAD Alums

Melissa Gámez-Herrera, 2020, M.F.A., Studio Art: Photography, is an interdisciplinary artist who works in photography, bookmaking, and other multimedia practices. Her work speaks on violations of human rights and the way art can be used to interpret and create a pathway to collective healing. She is from San Antonio, Texas, and earned a B.A. in Art and Art History from Colgate University. Melissa has participated in exhibitions throughout the state of Texas. She is a grantee of the City of San Antonio Individual Artist Grant in 2023.

 

Mexican-born, American-based artist Karla García, 2019, M.F.A., Studio Art: Ceramics, creates sculptures and installations influenced by her Mexican heritage and life in the Texas-Mexico borderlands. She earned her M.F.A. in Ceramics from the University of North Texas in 2019. The 12.26 Gallery in Dallas represents García. She was an artist resident at 100 W Corsicana and exhibits nationally and internationally. She has been published in the “Nasher Magazine,” “Scalawag,” and “NPR Morning Edition.” Her work is currently on view at the Old Jail Art Center for the Cell Series installation “When the Grass Stands Still.”

Tina Medina, 2004, M.F.A., Studio Art: Drawing and Painting, is an artist, educator, and curator living in Dallas, Texas. Originally from West Texas, she earned her B.F.A. at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. She is an art professor at Dallas College Mountain View campus. Medina’s art was exhibited most recently in “Soy de Tejas,” a statewide survey of Latinx art in San Antonio. As co-founder of Nuestra Artist Collective, she collaboratively organized exhibitions of Texas women artists in Dallas in 2022 and San Antonio in 2023. Medina’s art represents Mexican-American voices in our community through a mixed-media approach.

Tesa Morin, 2002, MF.A., Studio Art: Photography, is a multidisciplinary artist in painting, photography, and textiles. Her recent series titled “Borders/Boundaries” explores her studies of physical and psychological boundaries. Personal history informs Morin’s experience as a Texan and an artist. She was born in Spain to American parents. Her mother left the country with the children to avoid the political unrest of the post-Franco era. Morin received her B.F.A. from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. She is an adjunct professor of art at Collin College, Plano, Texas.

 

Lupita Murillo Tinnen, 2001, M.F.A., Studio Art: Photography, was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She serves as fine arts and education dean at Collin College Plano Campus. Tinnen earned a Ph.D. in aesthetic studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her dissertation addressed the historical portrayal of immigrants in documentary photography, the use of the photograph for social advocacy, and defined methods for the post-documentary. She holds a B.A. in Photography from Texas A&M-Commerce. Her work focuses on cultural and personal issues stemming from her background as a first-generation Mexican American.