
Mariela Espinoza-León Awarded HECAA Mary Vidal Award and LAII Travel Grant
Mariela Espinoza-León, a current Ph.D. student in Art History, was awarded the HECAA Mary Vidal Award. The Vidal Fund supports research expenses for HECAA members who are graduate students or have earned their PhD within the last three years. Additionally, Mariela has received a Field Research Grant from the Latin American and Iberian Institute. This grant will enable her to conduct preliminary dissertation research in Mexico City.
Our art history students are achieving remarkable milestones, and we couldn’t be prouder. Congratulations, Mariela!
Meet Our New Art Faculty
We’re thrilled to welcome three extraordinary artists and educators to the Department of Art!
Rambod Vala is a multidisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and educator whose work spans graphic and moving images. His practice integrates video, installation, typography, storytelling, and layered narrative structures interweaving realism and fantasy, politics and romance, skepticism and belief.
Experimental Art & Technology Faculty Shine in “Signal and Trace” Exhibition
“Signal & Trace” highlights artworks at the intersection of human experience and technological mediation, engaging with systems of surveillance, autonomy, memory, and identity.
MFA Student Luc Biscan-White and alum Miguel Lastra at SOMA Summer 2025
MFA student Luc Biscan-White and alum Miguel Lastra were selected to attend SOMA Summer 2025, an intensive program for artists in Mexico City.