Sylvia Fragoso

Sylvia Fragoso (b. 1962) is a Bay Area artist who has been working at NIAD Art Center since 1984. For Fragoso, making art is deeply tied to family, faith, and community. Many of her ceramics, drawings, and embroideries are homages to spiritual spaces, modeled after her grandmother's home in Mexico or her family's church. Her late mother and father often appear as “guardian angels” floating in kaleidoscopic drawings or perched atop sculpted steeples.

A solo show of Fragoso’s architectural clay structures was presented by The Good Luck Gallery, LA in 2017. More recently, her work has been featured in two-person and group exhibitions at Off Paradise in New York, NY; Adams and Ollman in Portland, OR; Pt. 2 Gallery in Oakland, CA; Left Field Gallery in Los Osos, CA; the OMCA in Oakland, CA; Personal Space in Vallejo, CA; Berkeley Art Center in Berkeley, CA; MarinMOCA in San Rafael, CA; and Tierra Del Sol in Los Angeles, CA. In 2025, Fragoso’s sculptures were prominently featured in Off Paradise Gallery’s booth at Independent Art Fair in New York.

Fragoso’s work is held in numerous private collections, and in 2024 the Oakland Museum of California acquired three of her ceramic sculptures for their permanent collection.

Most of Sylvia Fragoso's work is made in dedication to a family member, a NIAD studio facilitator or rooted in her Catholic faith. Her sisters, nieces, nephews, churches and angels are the consistent subjects for her works. Her ceramic sculptures are often homages to domestic and spiritual spaces; she frequently renders her grandmother’s past home in Mexico or churches visited in her lifetime.

Sylvia’s work has a deep appreciation for the natural world. Sharks and snakes are her favorite animals and the sun is a recurring symbol of hope. Sometimes her late mother and father appear as guardian angels in her drawings, oftentimes set against blue skies and large shining suns. A huge lover of popular culture and animation, Sylvia enjoys watching movies and listening to music while making her work. Musicals like ‘Annie’ and ‘Grease’ are a source of fun and inspiration for her while creating rugs.

Sylvia started making art in her early twenties after joining NIAD. Over the past thirty years she has produced hundreds of ceramic sculptures, prints, drawings and fiber works. Recently Sylvia has been focused on rug making, drawing with crayons and sewing fiber wall hangings. Sylvia cites long term NIAD studio facilitator Andres Cisneros-Galindo as an important figure in her practice and development.

Sylvia has exhibited globally at numerous galleries and art fairs, and her work resides in many private collections.