Verónica Gaona

Verónica Gaona was born in Brownsville, Texas, on the US–Mexico border and is based in Houston. Gaona received an MFA in Studio Art – Photography and Digital Media from the University of Houston (2021). Gaona was awarded the Latinx Fellowship Award (2023), the Chispa Award (2022) by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and Ford Foundation, and the Artadia Award (2021). Gaona attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Madison, Maine (2025), International Studio & Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, New York (2024), PAC Residency in Houston (2024), Lawndale Art Residency in Houston (2022-2023), DUST in Marfa (2019), and School Fine Arts De Nantes Saint-Nazaire in Nantes, France (2019). Gaona has exhibited their work at El Museo del Barrio in New York City, the Tucson Museum of Art in Arizona, Burlington City Arts in Vermont, Lawndale Art Center and Blaffer Art Museum in Houston, as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art of Tamaulipas and Galeria Pedro Banda del Centro Cultural Tamaulipas in Mexico. Gaona’s work was featured in the Wyeth Lecture in American Art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, presented by Roberto J. Tejada. In 2026 Gaona, will participate in the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Residency in Omaha, Nebraska. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston, School of Art - Photography and Video.