Robin Garcia

Robin Garcia is a Lecturer in Arts Leadership and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia, where she bridges academic scholarship with community activism through roles in the College of Arts & Sciences. Her work centers on decolonial practices, cultural production, and social justice movements across Latin America and diasporic communities.

Dr. Garcia earned her doctorate in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University with concentrations in Africana Studies, Media Studies, Latin American Studies, and Globalization and Culture. Her educational background informs her interdisciplinary approach to community-centered research.

Her research explores how cultural collectives reclaim historical narratives through community media, museums, and performance art, with specific focus on Afro-Indigenous communities in Venezuela and Los Angeles. She investigates intersections of land access, public art, and racial justice, emphasizing grassroots methodologies that center marginalized voices in cultural production and historical documentation.

Dr. Garcia's publications reveal consistent engagement with community-led archival practices and anti-colonial resistance, particularly examining how Venezuelan collectives navigate state power through cultural production. Her work demonstrates an evolving trajectory toward participatory action research that directly supports land back movements and healing justice initiatives.

Her scholarly recognition includes:

• ACLS/Mellon Public Fellowship at LA County Department of Arts and Culture
• Intercultural Leadership Institute Fellowship

Dr. Garcia has directed significant community programs including LA County's Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and co-directed WE RISE (a mental health/arts initiative), though formal graduate student advising isn't documented in available materials. Her grant-related work focuses on municipal arts funding and community-based healing projects.

She actively collaborates with grassroots organizations through curatorial projects like "Voices in the Water" (Goethe Institute) and "Of Soil Seeds and Stars" (LA Contemporary Exhibitions), working with collectives at the intersection of art, land justice, and community healing in Los Angeles.