User:Artist-ycllc/sandbox/Yehimi Cambrón

Biography

Artist — Activist — Public Speaker

Yehimi Cambrón is a DACAmented artist, activist, public speaker and entrepreneur born in San Antonio Villalongín, a small town in Michoacán, México. She became undocumented at seven years old when she immigrated to Atlanta, where she was raised. Cambrón’s work elevates the stories of immigrants, celebrates their humanity, and has a special focus on the experiences of Undocumented Americans. She has painted landmark murals in Atlanta that unapologetically assert the presence of immigrants, depict the intersectionality, diversity, and complexity of their stories, and challenge the white male-centered history of who is worthy of a public, monumental celebration. She is currently partnering with El Refugio to shed light on the stories of those who are being harmed by the Stewart Detention Center, a for-profit immigration detention center located in Lumpkin, Georgia. This public art project will educate and call the public to action to advocate for the closing of the immigration detention centers in Georgia.

Artwork and Murals

Cambrón first learned to merge art and activism through her first mural, Education is Liberation Monarch (Living Walls’ and We Love BuHi’s The BuHi Walk, 2017), which she utilized as a space of solidarity to advocate for the protection of undocumented youth. In 2019, Cambrón was nationally selected as one of eleven artists for Off the Wall: Atlanta’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Journey, a public art project leading up to Super Bowl LIII for which she painted Monuments: We Carry the Dreams and Freedom Fighters. That summer, she was awarded Living Walls’ Laura Patricia Calle Grant to paint Monuments: Our Immigrant Mothers. This mural was selected Best Mural in Atlanta by Creative Loafing critics in 2019. In 2020, Cambrón painted We Give Each Other the World, a two month mural and her tallest yet at over one hundred feet tall, co-funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Hapeville. Less than two weeks later, she began painting Monuments: Atlanta’s Immigrants, a mural which took two and a half months to complete and is now a part of The Art Collection at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Although she initially became nationally known for her murals, Cambrón’s art and activism quickly found its place in museum and gallery settings. Her series Family Portrait was exhibited at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art for Of Origins and Belonging, Drawn from Atlanta—Cambron’s first time exhibiting in a museum. Cambrón created Family Portrait as a way to highlight the complexities of mixed-status immigrant families through a series of individual portraits depicting her own family. These portraits were also exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia in the Fall of 2020 for Celebrating Georgia Artists of Hispanic/Latinx Origin. Cambrón reached another milestone that Fall with her first installation piece, De Aquí y de Allá at Agnes Scott College’s Dalton Gallery's Searching for Home.

Education and Work Experience

Cambrón earned a full-ride scholarship from the Goizueta Foundation to attend Agnes Scott College and graduated with a B.A. in Studio Art in 2014. In 2015, Cambrón was accepted into Teach for America (TFA) as a corps member, becoming the first of two DACAmented educators placed in Georgia by TFA, and serving on TFA’s DACA Advisory Board for two years. After completing her TFA commitment at a bilingual elementary school, Cambrón returned to her alma mater, Cross Keys High School, to teach art from 2017-2019. She incorporated Yehimi Cambrón, LLC, in 2019 and is currently a full-time artist, activist, and national public speaker.

Recognition and Awards

The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named Cambrón among the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia for 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2020, she was selected as one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under Forty and one of Atlanta Magazine’s Atlanta 500. In 2019, the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta selected Cambrón as the recipient of the “Distinguished Mexicans” award and silver medal from the Institute of Mexicans Abroad. Her art/activism has been featured by USA Today, The NY Times, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network, ESPN México, Jezebel Magazine, the Saporta Report, Atlanta Magazine, CNN, CNN en Español and Univisión, among many others.

External links

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