Arts & Resilience to feature Garzón, Magana
The John P. McGovern, MD, Center for Humanities and Ethics’ Arts & Resilience Program welcomes artists Nela Garzón and Gabriela Magana for the first of two events in the spring of 2024.
The event begins at noon, Feb. 22 on Zoom. Registration for the session can be found here.
Garzón is a multidisciplinary visual artist with a profound interest in exploring foreign media inspired by traditional crafts and cultures from all over the world. Garzón’s art explores the importance of cultural identity and the transgression of acculturation and encompasses topics such as colonialism, racism, social justice, immigration, and human behavior amongst others.
Her work consists of hybrid cultures and a mix of traditions and modernism as a critical outcome of ethnocentrism and modern societies. Folk art, handcrafts, beliefs, and customs from around the globe are her subject of research and admiration, and she adopts and modifies them to send a message about the side effects of globalization and capitalism.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Garzón received her bachelor’s of visual arts from the Pontifica Universidad Javeriana in 2004. In Colombia, she worked as a freelance artist and took part in national exhibitions such as the 12 Salón Regional de Artistas, 41 Salón Nacional de Artistas, and the 4to Salón de Arte Bidimensional. For more than 10 years, Garzón has worked in different fields of the arts including art direction, photography, illustration, graphic design, and education.
Garzón immigrated to the U.S. in 2010 and settled in Houston in 2012. Her art has been showcased around the U.S. in New York, Georgia, Missouri, Florida, and Texas, and she was awarded the 1st Place Award of the Assistance League of Houston (2019). In 2020, Garzón was selected as a LIFTS grant recipient and in 2022 she was commissioned by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston to create a temporary sculpture that was showcased at the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden.
Magana is an artist, curator, and arts leader. She holds a bachelor of arts in studio arts from the University of St. Thomas and a master of arts in arts leadership from the University of Houston.
In the community, Magana is a member of the Latinx Initiatives and the Changing Exhibits Committees at the Holocaust Museum Houston. She currently serves as the executive assistant and special projects coordinator at Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive Complex in Houston, where she is involved in the planning and execution of different engagement initiatives and development of a world-class institution for Latino art.
In her artistic and professional practice, Magana is committed to honoring her heritage and ancestors and being a voice for the Latinx experience.
Since its beginnings, the Arts and Resilience Program has welcomed highly accomplished fiction writers, musicians, actors, painters, poets, and filmmakers to engage with members of the McGovern Medical School and UTHealth Houston communities. The program is sponsored by the Dean’s Office in collaboration with the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics. For more information and a schedule of upcoming dates, visit the program’s website.