Carmela Castrejón, Teaching Artist (San Diego State University, BA Fine Arts, emphasis in Sculpture; Bilingual/Cross-Cultural Teaching Credential)
With CoTA since 2013
Carmela Castrejón is a regional visual artist ( Tijuana/San Diego). She has extensive teaching and exhibition experience, both individually and as a member of many artist and cultural collectives. In her individual and collective work, Carmela explores social and human issues. She is experienced in the many roles related to the art-making process and has an extensive background in production of both solo and group exhibitions. Her most recent solo show, Des-Terra, was exhibited at Instituto Frontera gallery, in Tijuana. Group exhibitions include Territorios Urbanos, #rrrr, Reuse Recreate Reimagine, Signos, and Sentidos y Deseo (Tecate, San Isidro, Escondido, and Mexicali). Some of her international exhibits include Tijuana Organica at Space Studios, England; Imagining the Book at Alexandria Bibliotheque, Egypt; and biennials in Sydney, Australia, and Venice, Italy.
Throughout her career Carmela has been part of various collectives including Colectivo Martes, Queremos Tijuana, Grupo FactorX, and Lxs del Nopal (Tijuana); American Festival Project (Kentucky); Voz Alta, El Campo Ruse, and Ruse (San Diego); BAW/TAF (Border Art Workshop/Taller de Arte Fronterizo) and Las Comadres (Tijuana/ San Diego).
Carmela’s philosophy as an art teacher is not focused on the outcome of the final piece, but on the process itself where imagination and exploration of ideas and materials are discovered.