Bella Maria Varela

Bella Maria Varela is a second-year graduate student pursuing an MFA at the University of Arizona School of Art. Bella grew up in inner-city Washington D.C with her three sisters (her favorite is the cocker spaniel named Angie), and parents. She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she majored in Mass Communication and minored in Photography.
Post-graduation Bella returned to Washington D.C and served as an Museum Assistant at the Phillips Collection, Assistant Manager at the Renwick Gallery Store, and as Arts Program Coordinator with All Our Kids DC. Currently, Bella serves as a facilitator with the Common Ground Alliance and QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) with the University of Arizona. Using photography, video, installation work; Bella’s artwork explores her identity as a first-generation Latinx women exploring and reclaiming American landscapes. Her work honors the immigrant hustle and highlights the confusion, pride and resiliency of first-generation Latinx women.