Celeste De Luna

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Celeste De Luna
Born1974 (age 50–51)
Spouse(s)
Ramon Benitez
​
(m. 1995)​

Ivan Yanes
​
(m. 2001)​
Children3
Academic background
EducationSt. Edward's University, 1998
University of Texas–Pan American, MA Studio Arts, 2009
ThesisThe borderline between the personal and political (2009)
Academic work
Discipline
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Northwest Vista College
Websitecelestedeluna.com

Celeste De Luna (born 1974) is a Mexican-American Chicana visual artist, printmaker, and educator.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

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De Luna was born in 1974 in Aurora, Illinois to Raymundo De Luna and Alicia De Luna.[4][5] When De Luna was eight years old, her family returned to South Texas.[5] De Luna is a second‑generation Mexican-American.[6][5]

In 1998, De Luna graduated from St. Edward's University and began teaching high school in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.[1][5] De Luna graduated with a Master's in Studio Arts from the University of Texas–Pan American in 2009.[1][3] De Luna's thesis is entitled "The borderline between the personal and political" and was supervised by Jean Braithwaite, Philip Field, and Richard Phillips.[5][7]

Career

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De Luna previously taught art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and is currently an assistant professor of Mexican American Studies at Northwest Vista College.[8][9][10]

Art

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Her work explores American identity through multiple lenses.[6] Her upbringing in Texas influenced many recurring themes in her work, as life in the borderlands, identity, and migration. She has characterized her practice as regional, offering insights into the experiences of undocumented communities.[5] She considers her work as, “an act against forgetting my Tejana roots. It is a protest against complete assimilation.” Other influences on her work include the flora and fauna of the Lower Rio Grande Valley as well as Catholicism. Artistically, she admires symbolists such as Henri Rousseau and Paul Gauguin, as well as Frida Kahlo and Amalia Mesa-Bains.[5]

Necrocitizen is a black-and-white woodcut print featured on the cover of the book Fencing in Democracy by Miguel Diaz-Barriga and Margaret Dorsey. The image in this print features a skull, representing De Luna's exploration of oppressive structures imposed on brown bodies and their treatment as second-class citizens.[11]

BorderLand X-scapes is an art workshop focused on decolonizing the border through a futuristic perspective, emphasizing the experiences and histories o indigenous populations.[12]

Our Lady of the Checkpoint is a black and white woodcut and vinyl piece on archival paper from 2020. The print features an immigrant version of the Virgin de Guadalupe walking into America barefoot with barbed wire around her.[13]

Healing Borderland Hand is a linocut from 2023 which features many details, including the Virgin de Guadalupe, a skull, cacti, flowers, a bird, barbed wire, and a bug.[13] These elements are considered to reflect her Catholic roots and upbringing in Texas. Her art has been included at the Blanton Museum of Art, Mexic-Arte Museum, Mulvane Art Museum, and the UTSA Print Collections. It has been shown at exhibitions in Vancouver, Michoacan, and Estonia.

Her awards and residencies include the Changarrito Residency at the Mexic-Arte Museum; Vermont Studio Center Residency in Johnson, Vermont;Sustainable Arts Foundation Finalist in Printmaking at the Sustainable Arts Foundation for the Tony and Caroline Grant; a Spudnik Press Artist in Residence in Chicago, Illinois; a residency at Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator at building community WORKSHOP in Brownsville, Texas; a Merit Award at the 10th annual Human Rights Art Exhibition for South Texas College in McAllen, Texas; Contemporary Art Month Award Alchemic Reactions Award for Collaborating Artists in San Antonio, Texas; and a Contemporary Art Month Cammie Award with Spare Parts Lady Base Gallery in San Antonio, Texas.[13]

Las Imaginistas

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De Luna is the co-founder of Las Imaginistas, an art collective that contributes to various projects aimed at fostering community dialogue and social awareness.[3][14] Las Imaginstas collaborates with professors from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to examine the mind and body of Brownsville and challenge colonial ideologies through the city's architecture.[15] Las Imaginistas received a 2017 Artplace America Creative Placemaking grant and 2018 A Blade of Grass Fellows.[16]

Personal life

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In 1995, De Luna married Ramon Benitez and married Ivan Yanes in 2001.[6][5][17][18][4] De Luna has three children.[5][4]

As of 2025, De Luna lives in San Antonio and works from her home studio, Metzli Press.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Alumni: Celeste De Luna". Santa Fe Art Institute. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Santa Fe Art Institute. 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  2. ^ Hernández–Ávila, Inés; Cantú, Norma Elia, eds. (2016). "Celeste De Luna". Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 229–233. doi:10.7560/307960-060. ISBN 978-1-4773-0837-0.
  3. ^ a b c Magda, Garcia (2018). "Interview with Celeste De Luna" (PDF). Camino Real: Estudios de las Hispanidades Norteamericanas. 10 (13): 119–131 – via UAH.
  4. ^ a b c "Alicia R. De Luna". Valley Morning Star. Harlingen, Texas: Stephan Wingert. 11 May 2007. p. 32. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Luna, Celeste (2009). "The borderline between the personal and political". ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. Edinburg, Texas: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Griest, Stephanie Elizondo (2017). "The Agents". All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 73–81. ISBN 978-1-4696-3160-8.
  7. ^ "The borderline between the personal and political". Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA. Edinburg, Texas: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  8. ^ "About the Artist: Celeste de Luna". Diálogo. 21 (2): 99–100. 2018. doi:10.1353/dlg.2018.0032. ISSN 2471-1039.
  9. ^ "Mexican American Studies: Faculty and Staff". Northwest Vista College. San Antonio, Texas: Northwest Vista College. 2023. Archived from the original on 11 May 2025. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Celeste De Luna". Getcreativesanantonio: The Cultural Calendar for the City of San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio: City of San Antonio. 2025. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  11. ^ Webjefa (2020-07-17). "Celeste De Luna". Chicana/Latina Studies. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  12. ^ "Border Land X Scapes & The Future - The Visualist". The Visualist - Chicago Visual Arts Calendar. 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  13. ^ a b c d "Celeste De Luna". Celeste De Luna. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  14. ^ "Celeste De Luna – Xicanx Art". Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  15. ^ "Las Imaginistas". A Blade of Grass. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  16. ^ "Celeste de Luna". Women's Studio Workshop. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  17. ^ "Celeste Deluna and Ramon Benitez", Texas Marriage Index, 1966–2021, Austin, Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services, 1995
  18. ^ "Celeste Deluna and Ivan M Yanes", Texas Marriage Index, 1966–2021, Austin, Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services, 2001