Bella Maria Varela is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts at the University of Arizona School of Art. Bella grew up in Columbia Heights, Washington D.C with her two sisters, mom, dad and dog. She then attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she received her Bachelors in the Arts in 2015. Post-graduation Bella lived in Washington D.C and served as a Museum Assistant at the Phillips Collection, Assistant Manager at the Renwick Gallery Store and Arts Program Coordinator with All Our Kids DC.
Currently, Bella serves as a facilitator with the QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) at the University of Arizona; where she is learning and teaching others how to build community, explore identity, and create dialogue across differences. Using photography, video, installation work and fashion; Bella’s art work explores her identity as a first-generation Latinx women exploring and reclaiming American landscapes.
In November 2019, Bella had a solo exhibition at CUNSTHAUS in Tampa, FL about her experience in Cape Cod. Learn more by clicking here.