NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program Info Session & Meet the Alumni

Are you an immigrant artist based in the New York City Area looking to build your arts community and seeking more opportunities for 1-on-1 support?  Come learn about the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program for Visual and Multidisciplinary Artists 2025. Staten Island-based alumni artists will share more about their experiences as mentors and mentees, and NYFA staff will provide an overview of the program and insights into the panel selection process. You will also get to connect with staff from Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art and Staten Island Arts and learn about other resources for immigrant artists that NYFA offers. 

 

 

 

Lina Montoya is a dynamic visual artist, encompassing roles as a graphic designer, muralist, and teaching artist. Originally from Medellín, Colombia, she has been based in New York City since 2010.

Montoya’s work is deeply infused with her cultural heritage. Fluent in both Spanish and English, she has forged strong connections with Latinx and immigrant communities throughout NYC. Her extensive experience as a teaching artist focuses on both arts creation and education. Over the past decade, Montoya has developed more than 80 community-based visual art programs. These include artistic residencies in schools, as well as commissions and public art projects in collaboration with city agencies, community organizations, and various partnerships.

Montoya spearheads her own artistic initiative named Ele Eme Project, which bridges the US and Latin America. This project aims to exchange “Magical Experiences” through socially engaged art, enhancing public spaces and driving social impact. Additionally, she co-founded the “La Isla Bonita Festival” in 2015, a cultural event celebrating Staten Island’s rich diversity by promoting accessible, family-friendly local and global arts, culture, and civic engagement.

Montoya has collaborated with numerous NYC public agencies and organizations, including the Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), NYC Parks Department, Department of Education (DOE), Civic Engagement Commission (CEC), Staten Island Council of the Arts, City Parks Foundation, Wagner College, NYU, Long Island City Partnership, NYC Murals Arts Project, NYFA, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Staten Island Justice Center, Richmond County Savings Foundation, Groundswell Community Mural Project, Sundog Theater, El Centro del Inmigrante, Alcaldía de Medellín, National Day Laborers Organization (NDLON), and the Colombian Consulate in New York City. She has also partnered with brands such as UNIQLO and ANTA.

Irma Bohórquez-Geisler is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, biologist, and cultural leader known for her work as a photographer, teaching artist, professor, and printmaker. A prominent figure in the Mexican-American community on Staten Island, she is the Founder, Artistic, and Program Director of the New York City Day of the Dead Festival (Día de Muertos), which she established in 1992. Bohórquez-Geisler holds a Doctorate (D.Phil.) in Ecological Entomology from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she received a full scholarship for her doctoral studies.

Her photography forms part of a long-term social documentary series titled Simple Moments of an Emerging Presence, capturing the daily lives and cultural traditions of Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant communities in Staten Island, New York. In 2016, her work was curated by Edward J. Sullivan, Professor of Art History at New York University, in an exhibition titled Mexico/Staten Island: Irma Bohórquez-Geisler. Sullivan praised her photographs for offering an intimate view into the lives and customs of the Mexican community, allowing viewers to engage with these moments as participants.

For over 27 years, Dr. Bohórquez-Geisler has led the New York City Day of the Dead Festival, an annual event that celebrates deceased loved ones through traditional dances, colorful costumes, and communal unity.

Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including a 2011 Proclamation from the City of New York for her work with Staten Island Women Who Preserve History. She has also received the Gabriela Mistral, Julia de Burgos, and Frida Kahlo Awards, recognizing her role in preserving and promoting Mexican heritage.

In 2024, her work was featured in the National Competition at Soho Photo Gallery, and she participated in the YesAndexhibition at the Staten Island Museum. Dr. Bohórquez-Geisler has exhibited widely, receiving the 12th International Julia Margaret Cameron Award in 2019. Her work has been featured in The New York Times Lens Blog and showcased at the Photoville Festival.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous grants from the Staten Island Arts Council for her photography and her work as a teaching and folk artist, continuing to enrich New York City’s cultural landscape.