Mireya Betances

Mireya Betances (1989 - 2025) was an interdisciplinary artist who worked at NIAD Art Center from 2016 - 2025. Over the years, she created delicate, poignant, and funny ceramics, prints, paintings, and drawings, and later expanded her practice to include glamorous hand-stitched fashion designs. 

Betances infused her sharp and silly wit into many works, combining expressive figures and personal symbols with found text. These words were co-opted from books, music, love letters, neighborhood buildings and street signs, mobile billboard trucks trundling down 23rd street, and snippets of conversations in the studio. Arranged together with floating hearts, birds, and stars, the resulting scenes offer a window into the private jokes, memories, dreams, and daily observations of an incredibly sensitive artist.

Mireya Betances’ work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the Bay Area, including those at Chico Art Center, Kala Art Institute, the Oakland Museum of California, NIAD Main Gallery, and Minnesota Street Project.

Mireya Betances se identifica como una artista interdisciplinaria a quien le gusta todo: dibujo, pintura, escultura y grabado. A Mireya le gusta la sensación de la arcilla y trabajar con sus manos, diciendo que la cerámica es divertida y genial para trabajar. 

Mireya también es músico, cantante e intérprete. Mireya siempre escucha música mientras crea arte visual y menciona a Luis Fonsi y Michael Jackson como dos de sus principales influencias. En un futuro, Mireya considera explorar las conexiones entre la música, las artes visuales y la danza en su trabajo escénico. En cuanto a su auto presentación, la elección de moda y de tatuajes son de suma  importancia para Mireya. 

En su práctica de dibujo, Mireya está interesada en hacer retratos,  inspirándose en personas que conoce y con las que trabaja. En su arte visual, Mireya a menudo es inspirada por temas de la naturaleza, especialmente mariposas, pájaros y flores.  

A Mireya siempre le ha gustado el arte, pero floreció artísticamente en NIAD Art Center, compartiendo: “Me gusta jugar dentro del estudio y afuera en su jardín de NIAD. Me gusta bailar en el jardín y almorzar  con mis amigos”. 

Mireya Betances identifies as an interdisciplinary artist who likes everything: drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. Mireya likes the feel of clay and working with her hands, saying ceramics is fun and cool to work with.

Mireya is also a musician, singer and performer. Mireya is always listening to music when she creates visual art and cites Luis Fonsi and Michael Jackson as two of her main influences. In the future Mireya wants to explore the connections between music, visual art and dance  in her performance work. Mireya is interested in self presentation through fashion choices and tattoos.

In her drawing practice Mireya is interested in portrait-making, drawing inspiration from people she knows and works with. In her visual art Mireya is often drawn to nature subjects, especially butterflies, birds and flowers.

Mireya has always liked art but blossomed artistically at NIAD Art  Center, sharing “I like to play inside the NIAD studio and outside in the NIAD garden. I like to dance in the garden and eat lunch with my friends.”