Bio
CV
EDUCATION
2000 MFA Master in Fine Arts. The School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University. Boston, MA
2019 Tibetan Art Studies. The New York Tibetan Art Studio. New York, NY
2003 Certified Yoga Teacher. Jivamukti, Om, Yoga4Cancer, Vajra Yoga NY, NY
1999 Museum Studies. Tufts University. Boston, MA
1998 Post Baccalaureate. School of The Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, MA
1995 Fine Arts. Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes. Cali, Colombia
1994 BA Universidad Javeriana. Cali, Colombia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 El Mundo tiene Corazón. Interactive and immersive Art Project COP 16.
YAWA Center for Science, Art and Technology. Cali,Colombia
2017 Interdependencia. Colombian General Consulate. New York, NY
2001 Ficciones Retinianas. Museo La Tertulia. Cali, Colombia
2000 Fixation. Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and Society. Boston, MA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 ¿Qué sabe el camarón del Río donde nadó toda su vida? Premio Convocatoria Biblioteca Departamental. Cali, Colombia
2025 Cuerpas Desobedientas. Bellas Artes & Centro Cultural. Cali, Colombia
2025 Saundarya ARTBO Galeria MMaison. Bogota, Colombia
2025 La Ofrenda Exposición Inaugural Casa de Creación. La Sierra Artist Residency. Buritaca, Colombia.
2024 SCIART Symbiosis. COP 16. Gathering between Artists and Scientist in order to create collaborations to address the Climate crisis.
YAWA Center of Science, Art and Technology. Cali, Colombia
2024 Landscape Now. Galeria MMaison. Bogota, Colombia
2024 Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity.
Collaborative initiative that brings together a procession of artists through New York City to envision how communities can gather as a collective force with a common purpose in turbulent times. Organized by Madison Square Park Conservacy & Maria Magdalena Campos Pons. New York, NY
2024 Colectivo Yaguarundi: El Gato Regenerativo COP 16. YAWA Science, Art &Technology. Cali Colombia
2024 Rios Intermitentes: Encuentros Sharjah Art Foundation EADJ. Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice. Matanzas, Cuba
2023 The Dreamers Sotheby’s Institute of Art. New York, New York
2023 Royal Nomad By Kick The Can. The Square. Palm Beach, FL
2023 Symbiosis Curated by Beth Rudin DeWoody. BBG. Berkshires, MA
2023 From The Heart of The World The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY.
2022 Here We Stand TW Fine Art Gallery. Palm Beach, FL
2022 The Arts of Compassion. Nalanda Institute. Tibet House. New York, NY
2022 Art for Tibet: 10 Year Anniversary. Curated by Ai Weiwi, Robert Thurman, Pema Yoko. Nowhere Gallery. New York, NY
2022 What if Art Dreamt Nature? L.A.B. (Latin Art Bridges). Lima, Peru.
2022 Our Common Ground Public Art installation The Square. Palm Beach, FL
2021 Naturaleza Muerta. The Other Art Fair. Brooklyn Exp Center. Brooklyn, NY.
2020 Awaken: Conjuring our tomorrow. Salem University. Salem, MA
2019 Ríos Intermitentes. The XIII Havana Art Biennale. Matanzas, Cuba
2019 Inaugural Exhibition. Oh Gallery. Damyang, South Korea
2019 Homecoming. Oh Gallery. Seoul, South Korea
2018 Around Us. Kate Oh Gallery, New York, NY
2018 Art for Tibet. Tibet House. New York, NY
2017 Open question. 106 Green Street Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2017 Art for Tibet. Tibet House, New York, NY
2014 New Voices. Active Space Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2013 Divine Intersections. Iona College. New York, NY
2012 Poética del Espacio. La Casa de Arte Contemporáneo. Cali, Colombia
2008 Midnight Blooming. GASP Gallery. Boston, MA
2008 The Dynamics of belonging. GASP Gallery . Boston, MA
2007 Fung Wa. Howard Yezerski Gallery. Boston, MA
2006 Anonymous Drawing. Bluetenwiss, Berlin, Germany
2002 Antología Premios Nacionales. Museo La Tertulia. Cali, Colombia
2000 The Can. Garcon Gallery. Berlin, Germany
2000 Allien: Art from and About Elsewhere. Green Street Gallery. Boston, MA
TEACHING, ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND PROJECTS
2025 El hilo del Corazon: Taller de Arte. Teacher and Founder. Cali, Colombia
2018-25 La Sierra Artist Residency. Artist in residency and teacher. Buritaca, Colombia.
Cuidando del Corazon del Mundo. Made illustrations for first and second edition of children’s eco coloring book “Caring for the heart of the world”. Developed and implemented art workshops to teach children from villages surrounding La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Emphasis placed in socializing children on the worldview of the indigenous communities surrounding their villages, animal rights, recycling, trash management and clean water.
Mochilas y Patrones. Made murals with kids from Arhuaco Community of Kutunsama in La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The murals inspired by the design of the “Mochilas” reflect their beliefs and customs depicting rivers, mountains and animals. Encoded in these patterns is the worldview that when we walk in harmony with all of nature, our path is opened, and so is the path for all humanity.
2003-25 Moving through Art. Art & Yoga Teacher. USA, Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, Colombia
2024 Rios Intermitentes. Encuentros. “Plein Air” Painting Workshop. Escuela Bellas Artes. Matanzas, Cuba
2022 New Wave Artist Residency. Artist Resident & teacher. Our Common Ground Painting Workshop. Palm Beach, FL
2019-22 Manic Breathing. Illustrations El Espectador. Bogota, Colombia
2003-17 Neem Foundation. Founder, president and teacher.
Neem a non-profit organization 501(c) that promotes art, yoga and meditation as alternative therapies for healing and forgiveness among people affected by violence and trauma. Envisioned and implemented programs for ex-combatants and victims of the armed conflict in Colombia through existing programs at La Fundación para la reconciliación, Colombia herida and Tecnovo. Bogotá, Colombia
2007 Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. Museum Educator. New York, NY
2007-10 The New York Tibetan Art Studio. Drawing teacher. Brooklyn, NY
1997 School of The Museum of Fine Arts. Painting teacher. Boston, MA
1999 New Museum of Contemporary Art. Curatorial intern. New York, NY
COLLECTIONS
Harvard University Art Collection. Cambridge.USA
Bank of America. Boston, USA
Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia. Cali, Colombia
Public Art Piece The Square Palm Beach. FL, USA
Collection Jean Pigozzi. Isla Simca. Panama
Collection Maria Magadalena Campos Pons
Collection Gigi Maquinay. NYC, USA
Alchemy Art Station. Boston, MA, USA
Biblioteca Departamental. Cali, Colombia
And other private art collections
Ana María Velasco is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice weaves painting, ceramics, drawing, immersive installation, and community-centered pedagogy to explore the interdependence of culture, living ecosystems and regenerative art as a creative act that addresses issues from the vantage point of a regenerative planet. Born in Colombia, she often approaches the country, its biodiversity and its people as foundation of her visual vocabulary. Growing up, she moved between Nicaragua (her mother’s homeland) while it was undergoing the throes of dictatorship and revolution; Cambridge Massachussets were she was exposed to a diverse and progressive communities and Colombia while it was ravaged by narco-terrorism; and New York City were she lived for almost two decades after she immigrated to the USA. These inspiring and turbulent environments heightened Ana Maria’s sense of awareness and solidified her motivation to use art as a way to spark reflection, conversation and positive change. She believes that art can contribute to regenerative landscapes by fostering ecological awareness, community engagement, and a sense of place at a bioregional and local level. She is committed to use her art practice as a tool to convey emotional messages across barriers that so often divide us, aiming to dissolve binaries between discourses, build bridges that connect art to world matters, providing us with new narratives to envision the world. Velasco’s art practice is a relational one. During more than a decade La Sierra Madre de Santa Marta in Colombia, the largest coastal mountain range in the world and one of the most irreplaceable sites for conservation in the planet, became the motif, metaphor and departing point for Velasco’s artistic and personal investigation. Through recurring engagements with the site, she has established an intimate relationships with this landscape and those who inhabit it, discovering new layers of our mutual dependence after each expedition. This process of Bioregioning lead her to develop new relationships with other bioregions (Matanzas Provence in Cuba, New York City, Nicaragua and Cali, Colombia) creating maps that outline and connect her travels through these various earthy and spiritual worlds. Ana Maria holds an MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University in Boston where she also received a certificate in Museum Studies. Her undergraduate degree is from La Universidad Javeriana and El Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes in Cali, Colombia. Ana learned Tibetan Art at The New York Tibetan Art Studio and is a student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism with Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She is a Yoga Alliance certified Teacher from Jivamukti Yoga School, Om Yoga and Yoga4Cancer in NYC where she also studied Indo-Tibetan Yoga with Robert Thurman. These contemplative and somatic disciplines actively inform both her art studio practices and her educational initiatives. Some exhibitions include, The Dreamers at Sothebys Institute in NYC; Saundarya ARTBO Galeria Mmaison Bogota, Colombia; Rios Intermitentes: Encuentros Biennal in Matanzas,Cuba; Symbiosis curated by Recognized collector Beth Rudin The Woody at The Berkshire Botanical Garden in Ma; Ficciones Retinianas in El Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia Cali, Colombia; Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity by Maria Magdalena Campos Pons at Madison Square Park Conservancy in NYC; The World has a Heart at YAWA Center for Science, Art and Technology during COP 16 in Cali, Colombia; Awaken:Conjuring our tomorrow Salem State University Winfisky Gallery, Salem, MA; Interdependencia at The Colombian Consulate in NYC. She was invited by The Korean Fine Arts Association and Kate Oh Gallery to exhibit in Seoul, Korea; Her work is held in public collections such as the Harvard University Art Collection in Cambridge, MA, Bank of America in Boston MA, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia Cali, and numerous private collections across the Americas and Europe. Committed to art as a catalyst for regeneration, Velasco founded Neem Foundation, a nonprofit employing art, yoga, and meditation in healing processes with victims and ex-combatants of the Colombian armed conflict. She continues to work in community projects with La Sierra Artist Residency and Caring for Colombia Foundation. She lives and works between Brooklyn, New York, Cali and La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia.