BIOGRAPHY
Bayamón, Puerto Rico, 1984
Sarabel Santos-Negrón is a contemporary artist, educator, and museum professional. Her artwork is informed by the study of nature through its social, political, and ecological territories. She earned an MFA in Studio Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore; an MA in Museum Studies from Caribbean University, Puerto Rico; a BFA in Painting and Art History from the University of Puerto Rico; and Art History studies from Fundación Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain.
Santos-Negrón has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with recent shows at La Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico: América Latina y el Caribe (San Juan), Museo de Arte de Caguas (Caguas), Coleccionismo Contemporáneo de Arte Latinoamericano (Bogotá), Chico Art Center (California), Large Arts Studios (Seattle), El Museo del Barrio (New York), and the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art (San Juan). She has been featured as a visiting lecturer at the 15 Bienal de La Habana (Cuba), Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), Princeton University (New Jersey), the University of Virginia (Virginia), Columbia University (New York), and the University of Cincinnati (Ohio).
Santos-Negrón has participated in residencies and research programs, including Puertas Adentro (Uruguay), Caribbean Linked VI (Oranjestad, Aruba), Creativity in Place (North Carolina), Palmer Project (Bayamón), St. Mary’s Artist House (Maryland), the Herbarium of the University of Puerto Rico (San Juan), and a self-conducted residency and ongoing research project at El Paseo del Río Bayamón (Puerto Rico). She is also a co-founder of _SITIO// Espacio y Taller Interdisciplinario de Arte, a community-based and solidarity-driven platform for artists from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She has received several awards, including an artist fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (Puerto Rico) for Campechada 2023; a travel fellowship from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture for the Museum Association of the Caribbean’s Conference (Washington D.C., The Bahamas); a CERF+ artist fellowship (Vermont); the 2019 BORIMIX award (New York) for the Valor y Cambio social currency project; and the Merit Scholarship from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
She is also a professor of visual arts, an independent curator, and the director of the Museo de Arte de Bayamón in Puerto Rico.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My art practice explores the social, political, and ecological landscapes of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, focusing on the intersection of nature and human activity. Using drawing, photography, sculpture, and installation, I create work through field research and direct engagement with the environment. I incorporate found materials—organic elements, industrial supplies, paper, sound, and mixed media—to highlight the ongoing impact of colonialism, migration, climate change, and privatization. My work addresses cultural memory and how collective histories shape landscapes and communities. By examining the transformations and tensions in the Puerto Rican and Caribbean environments, I raise questions about the power dynamics that continue to influence the region’s social and physical landscapes.