Laura Anderson Barbata posing in her studio.

Laura Anderson Barbata

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of the Arts and the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment welcomed Laura Anderson Barbata back to campus in Spring 2024. On February 6, 2024, Barbata gave a virtual presentation from her New York studio about her own work, especially about her ongoing “Interventions,” in partnership with the UW–Madison Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS).

In early March of 2024, she traveled to North Central and Southeastern Wisconsin to curate a series of community conversations which brought together knowledge-keepers from indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities in each region.

On Saturday October 26th from 3-5 PM of this year, she will travel to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin to hold another Community Conversation.

“Thread: Artists, Activists, and Educators working with Fiber” will be held Saturday, October 26th, from 3 – 5 PM at the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

About the Artist

Laura Andeson Barbata standing in her studio, showing off some of her work, composed of costumes created from dark and textured fabrics and other materials.

Born in Mexico City, Laura Anderson Barbata is a Mexican transdisciplinary artist currently based in New York and Mexico City. Since 1992 she initiated long-term projects and collaborations in the Venezuelan Amazon, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Norway, and the United States that address social justice and the environment. Her work often combines performance, procession, dance, music, spoken word, textile arts, costuming, papermaking, zines and protest.

Her work is in various private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; el Museo de Arte Moderno, México D.F.; and Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary. Her work has received the Anonymous Was a Woman Award; grants from FONCA Mexico; Mario Trujillo García Defense for Human Rights Award, Mexico; Rockefeller Bellagio Artist in Residence;  and Honorary Fellow of Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies LACIS, UW Madison, among others. 

She is currently on the Board of Directors of the College Art Association where she also serves as VP for Diversity and Inclusion.



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Events

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Presenters

The 2023–2025 Wisconsin Idea Residency Program is presented by the UW–Madison Division of the Arts. This program is graciously funded by the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment.