Teresa Eckmann

Teresa Eckmann is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Latin American art in the School of Art at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where she teaches in the Department of Art and Art History. She has been a faculty member at UTSA since 2008, when she joined as an Assistant Professor before being promoted to her current rank. Her academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Latin American Studies with a concentration in art history from the University of New Mexico (2004), along with prior professional experience as Assistant Curator at the National Hispanic Cultural Center and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at UNM's Center for Southwest Research.

Eckmann's educational background reflects her multidisciplinary approach to art: she holds a B.A. in studio art from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and trained as a professional dancer at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she was a dance major. She performed with the Berkshire Ballet and as an apprentice with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre following high school.

Eckmann specializes in modern and contemporary Latin American art, with particular focus on contemporary Mexico. Her research interests span Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art, 19th-21st Century Art of Mexico, Museum Studies, Public Art, Graphic Arts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latin American Film. Her work often explores themes of national identity, gender representation, border aesthetics, and the politics of cultural representation in Mexican and Latin American art.

Her scholarly output reveals consistent engagement with Mexican neo-expressionist artist Julio Galán, whose work serves as a lens through which she examines broader questions of Mexican identity, gender, and cultural representation. Her publications also demonstrate significant contributions to the study of Neo-Mexicanism, border art, Chicano art, and public art in the Mexican-American context, particularly in Texas.

• Mitacs Globalink Research Award Abroad (2019-22)
• Faculty Development Leave for 'Conversations on Contemporary Mexican Art and Queering Mexicanidad' (2021)
• Clustered & Connect Hiring Program Proposal 'Social and Environmental Challenges in Latin America' (2019)
• Mellon Pathways Mentor awards (2017, 2016)
• Alvarez International Study Fund Awards (2017, 2016, 2015)
• Mexico Center Educational Research Fellowships (2017, 2016, 2011, 2009)
• New Mexico History Scholars Program Fellow (2016)

Eckmann has secured numerous grants supporting her research and publications, including COLFA Classroom to Career Faculty Curriculum Grant (2022), Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation subvention for her Julio Galán monograph (2022), and multiple subventions from the Center for Regional Studies at UNM. She has served as a mentor through the Mellon Pathways program, guiding students like Jessica Vargas and Nicole Poole. Her curatorial work includes exhibitions such as 'Alberto Mijangos: 159, A Retrospective of His Art (and Life)' (2018) and '$t@tU.S.? Prints from Puerto Rico to San Antonio' (2017), demonstrating her commitment to connecting academic research with public engagement.

Through her dual background in studio art and dance, Eckmann brings a unique perspective to her scholarship, often considering the performative aspects of identity in visual culture. Her work bridges academic research, curatorial practice, and community engagement, particularly through her focus on Mexican and Mexican-American art in the San Antonio context.