Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido is a Cuban-American artist who has explored topics such as immigration, assimilation, marginality, cultural identity, history, politics, inequity, and illness. Her work has been supported through grants and fellowships from multiple organizations, including Art Matters, Alternate Roots, the Kentucky Arts Council, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and the Great Meadows Foundation. In 2022, she was invited to speak about her work at the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT) symposium, Global Appalachia.
Images and/or critical reviews of Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido’s artwork have been published in books, journals, periodicals and newspapers, including: Quién(es) Rompe(n) Hacen Piñatas by the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de Costa Rica, In the Land of Mirrors: Cuban Exile Politics (University of Michigan); The Latino Studies Reader: Culture, Politics and Society (Oxford: Blackwell); Janus Head: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature, Philosophy, Psychology and the Arts (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University); Fiberart International (Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh); Bound (The Women’s Caucus for Art); Art Miami; The Nation, New Art Examiner, ART PAPERS, The Miami Herald, and Surface Design Journal.
Works have been presented at numerous venues, including the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Mexic-Arte Museum, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art (UICA), Spaces, Speed Art Museum, KMAC Museum, Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts, and Aluna Art Foundation. Two pieces from Mesa-Gaido’s installation, Cuban-American Piñatas, are part of The American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora’s permanent collection in Miami, Florida., and commissions include the Carnegie Museum of National History, Speed Art Museum, and the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council.
Mesa-Gaido has a studio in Morehead, Kentucky, where she also teaches at Morehead State University. She received her M.F.A. from Ohio University and her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Images and/or critical reviews of Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido’s artwork have been published in books, journals, periodicals and newspapers, including: Quién(es) Rompe(n) Hacen Piñatas by the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de Costa Rica, In the Land of Mirrors: Cuban Exile Politics (University of Michigan); The Latino Studies Reader: Culture, Politics and Society (Oxford: Blackwell); Janus Head: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature, Philosophy, Psychology and the Arts (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University); Fiberart International (Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh); Bound (The Women’s Caucus for Art); Art Miami; The Nation, New Art Examiner, ART PAPERS, The Miami Herald, and Surface Design Journal.
Works have been presented at numerous venues, including the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Mexic-Arte Museum, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art (UICA), Spaces, Speed Art Museum, KMAC Museum, Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts, and Aluna Art Foundation. Two pieces from Mesa-Gaido’s installation, Cuban-American Piñatas, are part of The American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora’s permanent collection in Miami, Florida., and commissions include the Carnegie Museum of National History, Speed Art Museum, and the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council.
Mesa-Gaido has a studio in Morehead, Kentucky, where she also teaches at Morehead State University. She received her M.F.A. from Ohio University and her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.