CANDIDA GONZALEZ
EDUCATION
M.Ed. The University of Minnesota. Masters of Education in Second Languages and Cultures, 2003-2005
B.A. The Evergreen State College. Bachelor of Arts, Latin American Studies, 1996-2000
GRANTS, RESIDENCIES + RECOGNITIONS
2026 Lanesboro Arts BIPOC Artist-in-Residency Program
2024 MSAB, Creative Individuals, $10,000 for Blood Memory show
2024 PFund Foundation, $15,000 Equity Fund grant to generate public art curriculum
2023 Mexico in Minneapolis Folk Arts Residency, City of Minneapolis
2022 PFund Foundation, $10,000 Equity Fund grant for jewelry project Las Ranas Jewelry
2022 MSAB, Creative Support, $5000 for Exhale show.
2022 MRAC, Arts Impact, $5000 for Respira/Breathe Installations
2020 MRAC, Next Step Fund, $2500 Finalist
GENERATIVE WORK
En Duelo, Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN. Participatory grief reflection installations. 2026
Ensalmo Diaspórico, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI. Multimedia installation in the show TIERRAS FUTURAS. Curated by Shey Rivera. 2026
Aires de Felicidad, Indigenous Roots, St. Paul, MN. Multimedia installation commissioned to represent the diasporic Puerto Rican Christmas experience. 2025-26
Eulogia, Minneapolis, MN. In collaboration with Nell Pierce. 8 multimedia installations with collages made in community workshops to honor trans ancestors. 2025
I Wear Gold to Talk to my Ancestors, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Mpls, MN. A multimedia installation in the show Vaivén, a 43 artist group show of 21st century art of Puerto Rico and its diaspora. Curated by Teréz Iacovino and José López Serra. 2025
Seen, Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, MN. A multimedia, participatory installation including a digital collage set of the major arcana representing Caribbean performers pushing the gay agenda. 2025
Salud/Paz/Comunidad, CLUES, St. Paul, MN. Two commissioned installations. Nuestros Bonitos Recuerdos- a participatory multimedia installation looking back on 2024. Bendiciones- a participatory multimedia installation looking forward to 2025. 2024
Caldero Familiar, CLUES, St. Paul, MN. A multimedia installation including digital collage focusing on kitchen as altar for the Puerto Rican diaspora. 2024
Blood Memory, Public Functionary, Mpls, MN. Solo show. A set of 6 multimedia, participatory altar installations interrogating the ways that we are able to connect to ancestors and ancestral homelands through sensorial experiences. Curated by Tricia Heuring. 2024
Transgressive, Franconia Sculpture Park, Franconia, MN. Multimedia installation piece in the group show INVENTADAS, curated by Alondra Garza. 2023
Seen, Public Functionary, Mpls, MN. A multimedia, participatory installation including a digital collage set of the major arcana representing Caribbean performers pushing the gay agenda. Installed at Public Functionary as part of Affirmation Space. 2023
Respira/Breathe, Mpls, MN. Creation of 6 public temporary, participatory installations in South Mpls public parks designed to promote healing and community connection. 2022
Exhale, Northrup King Building, Mpls, MN. A participatory exhibition designed to direct the Mpls QTBIPOC community in remembering, grieving, honoring and releasing all that we have lost in pandemic through altar creation and hybrid online/in person event. 2022
Las Ranas Jewelry. A jewelry and writing project based in the brujería tradition exploring how the manipulation of shape, color and words create different spells and energies. Mixed media assemblage. 2018- present
Radical Playground, US Bank Stadium Park, Creative City Challenge winner, Mpls, MN. In collaboration with Mary Anne Quiroz and Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. Temporary sculptural installation debuting in June 2019. Installation featuring whimsical interactive alebrije animal sculptures inspired by dream creatures from the Caribbean, Mexico, the Pacific Islands and the indigenous cultures of Minnesota along with a summer of programming, inviting communities of color to heal and participate in radical joy through movement, music, ceremony and play. Lead artist team. 2019
COMMUNITY DESIGN
Art for Nervous Systems, Creative CityMaking, Mpls, MN. In collaboration with 8 artists from Creatives After Curfew created 4 murals based on the concept of reclaiming and de-monetizing indigenous herbal knowledge. Community herbal distribution based on mural art began in summer 2022. Project manager, ideation, design. 2021-22
Creative CityMaking arts team, Mpls, MN. Worked as a team with a muralist for a year with the Resilience in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST, City of Mpls Government) program and CLUES Mpls to capture and share immigration stories of the Latinx community. The project culminated with a mural installed outside city council chambers. Project manager, community engagement, design. 2019
I Am Water, I Am a Water Protector, Northern Spark Festival, install on East 7th Street in St. Paul, MN. Creation of 4 community painted polytab murals. In collaboration with the Indigenous Roots Cultural Center and MN350 celebrating youth water protectors at Standing Rock. Project ideation, design and community organizing. 2017
Central Identity Project, Central Neighborhood/ Green Central Community School, Mpls, MN. A 2000 sq. ft. mural fabricated in 10 community paint sessions throughout the Central Neighborhood exploring the Central Identity. Project ideation, management and community organization. 2013
ARTS FACILITATION + CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Making it Public (MIP), Forecast Public Art. Curriculum development and facilitation of the MIP workshop series, a national workshop that guides artists on developing a career in public art. 2019-present
Equity Fund Cohort, PFund. Curriculum development for three online and in-person five week cohorts of QTBIPOC small business owners. 2023
TRCSTR, Hope Community, Mpls, MN. Transformational Creative Strategies Training. Mentor artist, 2022-23. Cohort member, 2021.
Center for Embodied Pedagogy (CEPA), Puerto Rico. Lead facilitator for Mpls pod, Dialects of Decolonization 6 month study group and curriculum development team. 2020-22
MayDay Council, Mpls, MN. Participated in a community elected committee to reimagine the MayDay Festival for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. 2020-22
Creating Change Gallery, Mpls, MN. Co-founder and mentor. The program gives four artists under 25 funding for a solo show with a mentor each year. 2019-2024.
MayDay Accessibility Coordinator, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Mpls, MN. Worked with theater and community to make the MayDay Festival more accessible. 2019
Live painting coordinator, Soundset Music Festival 2019, St. Paul, MN.
Career Consultant, Springboard for the Arts. Artist mentorship and career guidance. 2019-Present
Facilitator, MRAC, St. Paul, MN. Contracted to run listening circles with local BIPOC artists focusing on grants, funding and arts programming in local BIPOC communities. 2018
Arts Coordinator, Roosevelt High School, Mpls, MN- oversaw all arts programming and arts opportunities at Roosevelt. Ongoing objective is to build a cohesive arts program that uses arts-based strategies to address historical, systemic and current educational inequities. 2013-18