A one-person studio by María José Castillo
exploring art and design by

January 9, 2025

Franconia Sculpture Park 2024 Artists-In-Leadership Program

I was selected to be part of the first Artists-In-Leadership cohort in Franconia Sculpture Park, along with fellow artists Ivonne Jasso Yáñez, and Fletcher Wolfe. Franconia Artists-in-Leadership is a new program as of 2024, designed to give young artist-leaders opportunities to develop and execute programs in a nonprofit environment. For this program, I helped with the design and layout of general and sculpture signage across the park, along with my initiative The Prairie at the Park, showcasing some of the prairie flora and fauna found at Franconia. After meeting with fellow artist Torey Erin, who granted me access to her research on Franconia’s native species,…

December 27, 2024

Latina/Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change / Foundational Artist – Curatorial Team

The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University in St. Paul hosted Latina and Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change, an exhibition celebrating art created by self-identifying Latina women and non-binary Latinx Minnesota-based artists with ancestral roots in Latin America, on September 7–December 8, 2024. The exhibit was co-curated by Zamara Cuyún and William Gustavo Franklin. I was invited to join the foundational artists’ co-curatorial cohort along with Carmen Gutiérrez-Bolger, Lynda Grafito, Marina Castillo, Cecilia Cornejo Sotelo, María Constanza Carballo, Deborah Ramos, and Selena Medellín. My contribution as a foundational artist consisted of assisting further discussions on…

September 29, 2023

Pocket Poem

July 11, 2023

Artists Writing Series / Walker Arts Center

I was invited by artist and guest editor Peng Wu to be part of the 2023 Residents of Impermanence Artist Writing Series, for the Walker Arts Center. This series was focused on centering the voices of artists living in the United States without the security of legal permanent residency. Bound by the kinship of our shared experience as temporary workers on US land, each artist of this cohort examined concepts such as fragmentation of identity, language, memory, My essay, titled An Idea Of A Cow, centered the interplay of language and culture, and how allowing space for miscommunication can give…

December 13, 2022

Ladies, Wine & Design Bogotá

On December 15, 2022 I was the guest speaker at the Ladies, Wine & Design Bogotá Chapter for their year-end event. It was a great way to connect with fellow creatives in my home country, talk about my journey as a designer turned visual artist, and reflect on the challenges I faced while studying a postgraduate program in the US. Ladies, Wine & Design is a non-profit initiative spearheaded by designer and artist Jessica Walsh, in order to create spaces and activate projects that highlight the work of women and non-binary creatives around the world. Daniela Castiblanco, Laura Cárdenas, Mabel…

June 21, 2022

Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix exhibition at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul

In Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix, I was part of the showcase comprising eight Latinx artists (identifying as Chicano, Chilean, Colombian, Mixteco, Mexican, and Mexican-American) exploring what it means to claim a mixed-race identity consisting of both Indigenous and European descent. The concept of mestizo (having Spanish-Indigenous ancestry) originated in the sixteenth century as part of a racial designation system created by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers in what is now considered Latin America. Today, the violent and lasting impacts of colonization can be difficult to fully comprehend. Without seeking definitive conclusions or definitions I, along with artists Marcela Rodríguez Aguilar, Luis Fitch, Bobby…

January 2, 2021

Community Murals for Minneapolis, summer of 2020

In the summer of 2020, we had an uprising in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. This was, undoubtedly, a time of unrest but also of reflection as to how we can contribute to our community as artists and designers. I had the amazing opportunity of working alongside Emma Eubanks on mural designs for Lake St. businesses, sending a message of love and hope to the Minneapolis community during these trying times. Thanks to Mireya Bustamante, Scott and the team of Master Collision Group for providing the space and facilitating the work of the volunteers! – infinite thanks to Melissa Sisk for thinking of me…

May 11, 2020

Rituales Paganos Zine, by Karma Studio

Starting the year 2020 anew, I participated in the group project Rituales Paganos, by Karma Studio in Barranquilla, Colombia. Illustrators and artists from around the countries of Colombia and México contributed their take on this prominent festivity using the traditional masks, characters and floats as a source of inspiration. The designs were all printed on riso for a limited edition of 25. For my piece I chose the Tiger Mask from the Congo Dances, as crafted by Luis Carlos Asís, from Taller Carnaval Tradicional, in Soledad, Atlántico. The design is a legacy from the cutter “Mañe” Herrera, who worked…

March 25, 2020

Campfire Comics x Stories submission

I was part of Campfire Comics x Stories Winter Issue, printed in 2020. For this edition, I adapted the contents of my mini book Enough Space. Campfire Comics and Stories Quarterly is an anthology of comic art and illustration published four times a year. It features work by an international lineup of artists. For this issue, they invited 22 artists, who submitted illustration and comic work around the theme of Winter.

March 9, 2020

From Us: Together Forever Sometimes at Gamut Gallery

I had the incredibly rewarding opportunity to work with two mediums very near and dear to me, type and poetry. This group exhibition began with thirty untitled and unauthored poems by Molly-Margaret Johnson & Kareem Rahma, shared with local and national typographers, illustrators and designers who were challenged to conceive a personal rendition of the poem of their choice, adding yet a third layer of complexity to the written prose. I chose a short poem that evoked in me the lonely and isolating feeling of a highway at night time, and the distant flicker of a motel sign. To achieve…

A one-person studio by María José Castilloexploring art and design by

A one-person studio by María José Castillo
exploring art and design by