Creative Maria Elena

03/21/2026

Arte de Féminas Fronterizas 👩‍🎨
MUJER + MUJER 2026
¡ES HOY!
📍Museo Histórico de Reynosa
🕖 7 PM
¡Los esperamos!

03/20/2026

Es un honor poder participar en la exposición colectiva Mujer+Mujer 2026, que se llevará a cabo mañana 20 de marzo en el Museo Histórico de Reynosa. ¡Los esperamos! 🤩

Para continuar con la celebración del 277 Aniversario de la Fundación de Reynosa, el alcalde Carlos Peña Ortiz invita a las familias reynosenses a participar en las actividades culturales, artísticas y deportivas programadas del 15 al 21 de marzo, como parte de esta importante conmemoración. 🎉

Consulta la imagen para conocer la cartelera completa de eventos.

03/15/2026

I’m thrilled to share that I was awarded the Urban Bird Project Fellowship for Spring 2026 at UTSA.

The is an environmental justice initiative that brings together Arts, Ecology, and Mexican American & Indigenous Studies through birds. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, it connects scholars, scientists, artists, and communities across South Texas through workshops, field trips, and public events.

I feel deeply honored to work alongside the Urban Bird Project leadership—Kenny Walker, Amelia King-Kostelac, Carolina Hinojosa, Eres Gomez, and Jen Smith—and to contribute to conversations advancing avian conservation, environmental justice, and cultural storytelling.

Receiving this fellowship is truly meaningful to me. Through the Urban Bird Project, I look forward to learning from inspiring mentors and fellow scholars while developing a project that connects birds, science, society, art, and environmental justice.

Discover more about the Urban Bird Project here:
https://urbanbirdproject.org/

🐦🦆🦅🦜

03/14/2026

Introducing the WE EXIST painting collection.

This series of fourteen paintings was inspired by the landmark case Sierra Club v. Morton (1972) and by Justice William O. Douglas’s visionary call to recognize natural entities as subjects with legal rights.

The works explore the intersection of art and environmental justice, inviting reflection on how we perceive and represent the natural world in an era of ecological transformation.

The collection was presented at the 6th EnJust Conference 2025 in Bonn, Germany, held 03–05 December 2025.

Explore the collection:
https://artfactorybook.my.canva.site/weexist

Credits
Artist: María Elena Vargas Magaña (WE EXIST series)
Curator/Museographer: Atziri PérezGalindo
Curatorial Text & Design: Esmeralda Ramos

01/26/2026

I’m happy to share that my latest art exhibition, WE EXIST, is now published on the EnJust Network webpage.

🔗 https://enjust.net/we-exist-art-dissent-and-the-right-of-nature-to-be-heardwe-exist-art-exhibition/

A special thank you to the founders and the entire EnJust Network team for creating a space where art, justice, and environmental dialogue can thrive.

01/18/2026

Explore the full WE EXIST collection:
🔗 https://artfactorybook.my.canva.site/weexist

During the Spring 2025 semester, I took two courses that deeply transformed the way I understand Law and the Environment. Under the guidance of Professor Robert Thompson, Environmental Law and Environmental Assessment became spaces for reflection, where legal cases revealed their human, ethical, and environmental weight.

Sierra Club v. Morton (1972), and Justice William O. Douglas’s dissent, stayed with me. The idea that nature could be recognized as a subject, not an object, resonated strongly and became the starting point of the We Exist art collection.

This collection was presented on December 3-5, 2025, at the 6th EnJust Conference 2025 at IDOS, Bonn, Germany.

12/23/2025

A glimpse of the We Exist Art Exhibition, where art, voice, and environmental justice come together.

6th EnJust Conference 2025
IDOS, Bonn, Germany
03-05 December

12/03/2025

TODAY - WE EXIST

This evening, I have the joy of presenting my solo exhibition WE EXIST at the EnJust 2025 Conference at IDOS in Bonn.

This project was born from a simple but powerful idea: nature deserves a voice. Our rivers, trees, valleys, and landscapes should be part of the conversations on justice and sustainability.

Inspired by the case Sierra Club v. Morton (1972) and Justice William O. Douglas’s visionary call to recognize natural entities as beings with rights, I created a series of 14 abstract and figurative paintings that imagine nature as the living presence it truly is.

Sharing this work today with a community dedicated to environmental protection is an honor. Thank you for making space for art in these essential discussions.

WE EXIST, and so does the voice of our planet.

Credits:
Curator / Museographer: Atziri PérezGalindo
Curatorial Text & Design: Esmeralda Ramos

11/15/2025

The XV Seminar on Aesthetics and City, “The Transformation of Spaces into Beautiful and Livable Places,” organized by the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), brought together diverse perspectives on how science, urban aesthetics, and sustainability can shape the cities we inhabit. Under the coordination of Dr. Juan Mansur, the seminar highlighted the value of interdisciplinary dialogue in guiding the creation of healthier and more harmonious urban environments.

My contribution to this edition was the presentation:
“Satellite Observations to Assess Air Quality in Berlin.”

A topic that explores how satellite remote sensing and urban ecology can inform better urban planning and public health strategies.

10/31/2025

Art Collectors Night in McAllen

It was a privilege to be part of Six Sparks to the Sky, which opened with an exclusive Art Collectors Night on October 4, 2025, at Studio A in McAllen, Texas. The event brought together collectors and artists, Gabriel Treviño, Elena Macías, Omar Manzo, Thelma Lugo, Gerardo Medina, and myself, to celebrate creativity and the vibrant art scene of the Rio Grande Valley.

08/25/2025

¡Ya es hoy! ¡24 Autores, 43 textos!
Portada: fotografía de Julián Delgado

Entrada gratuita | Martes 26 de agosto | 7:00 PM
Parque Cultural Reynosa

Si estás en Reynosa, estás cordialmente invitad@ a la presentación de “En la margen del río”, una antología de cuentos surgida del taller de escritura creativa impartido por la maestra Graciela Ramos y publicada por Editorial Capítulo Siete.

Te invitamos a ser parte de este evento, donde podrás conocer a muchas de las voces creativas de nuestra querida ciudad de Reynosa.

En lo personal, mi maestra Cielo y el grupo del cual tuve el privilegio de formar parte, con talentosos compañeros escritores como Lolis Cueva Luna, Sofía Morales Fuentes, Viridiana Leal, Julián Delgado, Norberto Flores, Erika Warnholtz Cintora, Rosangela Elizabeth Martínez y José Julián Delgado Hernández, me han permitido iniciarme como autora de cuentos cortos y continuar fomentando la creatividad en compañía de personas tan inspiradoras.

¡Te esperamos!

Y quiero incluir un especial agradecimiento para mi talentosa hermana y bff Yoana Vargas Magaña por haberme motivado a asistir a las clases de la genial maestra Cielo 🥰 ¡Mil gracias hermosa!