“As a Bay Area local, it gives me great pleasure to know that two of our community’s most inspiring artistic voices, Marcel Pardo Ariva and Lava Thomas, are receiving not only an important and well-deserved recognition on a national scale, but an award that might help them overcome some of the countless obstacles they are surely facing in this extraordinarily challenging moment.” – Juror Anthony Huberman, Director & Chief Curator, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

 “I was impressed by Marcel Pardo Ariza’s public art projects that are bringing attention to the history of the LGBTQIA+ community in San Francisco and situate the city’s gay bar scene as a critical space for kinship and solidarity.” – Juror Lucy Mensah, Clinical Visiting Assistant Professor, MUSE Program, School of Art & Art History at University of Illinois at Chicago

Marcel Pardo Ariza (b. Bogotá, Colombia) (they/he) is a trans visual artist, educator, and curator who explores queer kinship through photographs, site-specific installations, and public programming. Their work is rooted in dialogue and collaboration with trans and queer friends and peers—many of whom are performers, artists, policymakers, and community organizers. Their practice celebrates collective care and intergenerational connection, emphasizing long-term, interdisciplinary collaborations that are non-hierarchical and equitable.

Ariza’s work has recently been exhibited at Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) in Brazil; Espacio Odeón in Bogotá, Colombia; Lisson Gallery in NYC; SFMOMA; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Palo Alto Art Center; SFAC; YBCA; Palm Springs Art Museum; and the ICA San José. They are the recipient of the 2022 SFMOMA SECA Award, the 2021 CAC Established Artists Award, the 2020 San Francisco Artadia Award and the 2017 Tosa Studio Award. Ariza is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography at California College of the Arts and the co-founder of Art Handlxrs. They serve on the board of El/La Para Trans Latinas and have been a member of The Transgender District’s Community Advisory. They are represented by OCHI gallery in Los Angeles.