What is the meaning of the portrait stamped on the first-floor hall of the Art building?

What is the meaning of the portrait stamped on the first-floor hall of the Art building?

In the spring of 2018, the portrait titled “Project Adriana” was stamped on the wall by BFA student, Cynthia Juarez. It is a portrait of Adriana Paola Espinoza, a friend of Juarez, and one of many immigrant students experiencing the uncertainty of opportunities in the United States. Adriana was born in Mexico and is currently an undergraduate student studying in Chicago. Adriana, like thousands of young people who were brought to the United States with their families, they feel powerless. By the repeated image of Adriana on the wall, the artist hoped to empower them. “I wanted to give my friend and other immigrant students living in the United States a sense of power,” said Juarez. “There is power in numbers, and with my background in printmaking, I wanted to multiply Adrian’s portrait by stamping it in silver on the wall that was painted black.”

image: Mural by Cynthia Juarez, “Project Adriana”

Kaitlin Bryson Selected for 2026 Cohort for Monument Lab Re:Generation!

Kaitlin Bryson Selected for 2026 Cohort for Monument Lab Re:Generation!

Congratulations to Kaitlin Bryson for being selected to take part in the 2026 cohort for Monument Lab Re:Generation! She received a $100,000 grant for her ongoing project, Bellow Forth. Bellow Forth is a community project focused on restoring soil health and environmental resiliency through storytelling and collaboration, community and ecosystem science, and social art practice in wildfire-impacted lands and communities in northern New Mexico.

Alum Highlight: Eric-Paul Riege Receives 2025 Trellis Art Fund Grant

Alum Highlight: Eric-Paul Riege Receives 2025 Trellis Art Fund Grant

Eric-Paul Riege, a Gallup-based Diné artist and recent UNM graduate, has been recognized as a 2025 Stepping Stone Grantee by the Trellis Art Fund. His multidisciplinary practice uses weaving as both process and philosophy, blending ancestral knowledge, spirituality, and contemporary art to create works that are living, mobile, and deeply connected to cultural memory.

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