2026 Eduardo Carrillo Scholars

For the past 23 years Museo Eduardo Carrillo has supported emerging student artists in the UCSC Studio Art program through the Eduardo Carrillo scholarship where qualified students are selected annually to receive up to $1000 each to support their individual craft. The scholarship honors the memory of Chicano artist and UCSC Art professor Eduardo Carrillo who was known for his generosity and support of his students. Museo Eduardo Carrillo proudly celebrates these artists with an online exhibition where you can see the selected works of seventeen of this year’s Carrillo Scholars. We invite you, our community,  to take a look at these incredible emerging artists and support them as they move forward in their careers: 

Senna Paisley Abbott

Although the female body produces life, the miracle of birth, it is ridiculed and policed. Throughout Western art, the pornographic gaze, shame, domestic violence, and puritanical judgments are apparent. By capturing the nude female body intertwined with florals, I seek to redefine the meaning of the female form most traditionally depicted in art. I want to stray away from the sexualized male gaze and towards that of the queer feminine. Through dreamlike transcendentalist landscapes and female nudes, I want to abstract the definition of feminine beauty and desire. I explore birth and rebirth in my paintings by depicting the natural phenomenon of emergence in nature. In my time living in Santa Cruz, I’ve been inspired by the interrelation of the forest and ocean, connected by the San Lorenzo River. I create a comparison to the female womb and the cyclical process that animals, plants, and humans alike go through. 

instagram: @sweetnessnlight24

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Samantha Barajas

My artwork displays who I am. In one way or another, a piece of myself is left on the page, like the ink on photo paper. We all have different versions of ourselves, and I’m still discovering mine. Discovering yourself means living new experiences and constant evolution. My art reflects thatgrowth, shaped by everything, from racial profiling to sexual assault; each piece is an embodiment of my subconscious. With an immigrant Mexican father and a Salvadoran/Honduran mother who worked two jobs, college has always represented the American Dream. I see myself living my dreams for them at a California university, honoring their sacrifices. Whether intentional or not, I will continue to use my voice to make the comfortable uncomfortable. I’m on a journey to discover myself through my voice, and my artwork is my documentation.

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Sam Benarroch

I create in multiple disciplines of photography, oil painting, mixed media, and performance art where my work observes a personal integration process of fragmentation from childhood PTSD. I understand the world in energy where my art is an integral part of my processing moving energy through me. I see my practice as a symptom of my experiencing the world, I cannot live without expressing myself to be seen, to interpret, and understand my experience. 

I’ve been particularly excited about my painting series where I’ve been using clouds as a baseline conceptual motif to express different parts of myself in forms of varied abstractions.

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Lauren Briley

My work is informed by my experiences as a recently disabled human. Grief, tenderness, anger, and joy grapple in my work. I believe in illness as a path to transformation, instead of the western belief that illness is a curse. My disease has only caused me to fall deeper in love with the world; the textures, the sounds, the minutia and the vastness of it all. My art extends my gratitude towards the world. To live, to breathe, and to feel- these are my concerns. It is my deepest privilege to live in a world that has pearls, volcanoes, trees, wine, art, and music. My work is an exhale, my work is an ever-present hope.

Website:  https://www.aportfolio.org/laurenbriley

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Genesys Espinoza

I am a multimedia artist whose work is driven by my queer identity and grief towards my people in Oaxaca. I struggle with the fact that so many of my family members were driven away from home, away from a small town in Oaxaca and ultimately away from Mexico all together. When my mother crossed the border her new dream was to make mine a reality. My dream is to create art for myself and reach people who think they don’t have a voice. Although there are still struggles within my family to accept my queerness, I know now more than ever that I have to carry myself with pride. Even in this political climate making myself heard not only for myself but those whose strength faltered and aren’t with us today. Death comes for us all but it should not be pushed upon us by outside forces.

Website: https://readymag.website/u268836855/miaulancholy/ 

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Melody Ruiz Galeana

Our world is vast, full of culture, question, and isolation, yet we all seek individuality and community. I create art from my point of view being a part of many communities, new and old. I make my art full of the surrealism that comes with consequences and personal reactions. Mental health is an important factor that drives my artwork and motivates me to seek out conversations from viewers, in hopes of connecting on another level.

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Carmen Galmes Altafulla

My works explore the intersection of the internet, science, and art history, specifically investigating the effect of monetization on the internet and how the unfiltered nonsense of the internet has shaped humanity’s view of the world. Inspired by Dadaist art and absurdist philosophers, I aim to challenge the viewer’s perception of social media by highlighting the weirdest parts of online culture and immortalizing them through collage and traditional painting methods. 

My goal is to provoke a dialogue about the joys of irony and absurdity, and how the internet is full of absurdity, no matter how ‘normal’ your use of the internet may be. The concept of being able to immediately have access to all public human knowledge instantly is already incredibly unreal, and like life’s innate absurdity, it is best to embrace the irrationality and meaninglessness of internet culture rather than searching for structure and reason. 

Website: cgalmesa.github.io

Instagram: @carm.jpg

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Angel Garcia

My artwork is a vessel in which I speak about mental health issues that are important to me; furthermore, I believe as an artist it is my duty to bring up social issues to the world around me. I speak through my art, and I am currently experimenting with mixed media paintings and collage work.

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Chandra Gurnoe-Lutz 

My artwork explores the relationship between land, body, and memory, with particular attention to how place shapes identity and emotional experience. Working across drawing, painting, mixed media, and digital processes, I use layering as both a visual and conceptual strategy. Materials are built up, erased, and reworked to reflect cycles of disruption and repair. Much of my imagery is informed by time spent in natural environments, where observation becomes a way of understanding form, pattern, and interconnection. 
As a Native woman, my practice is influenced by Indigenous ways of knowing, ecological awareness, and the belief that art can function as a site of healing and reflection. Rather than illustrating specific narratives, my work creates space for viewers to engage with themes of belonging, resilience, and relationship to land. I am interested in art that is intuitive, embodied, and responsive to the world it emerges from. 

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Griffin Hennessy

I see art as a way to record, communicate, and provoke.To be able to record the environment and the commentary around me through lines, values, and marks. To document the mundane and present it with the significance it deserves. To see the beauty in the grotesque and of the everyday by transforming a subject that is seemingly normal, into a fine oil painting. To provoke feeling on a canvas using oil paint. My purpose for making art is to invent space with no physical or social restrictions. I enjoy creating my own world with the illusion of depth and to rein total control over the environment. By manipulating mediums such as ceramic or wood, I use sculpture as a way to bring characters to the third dimension with their own personality.

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Jeremy Jimenez

My artwork is primarily oil paintings. However, I do make digital and charcoal/pencil drawings as well. The subjects of paintings vary dramatically. I do landscapes, portraits, still lifes, scenes from movies and video games or album covers. I am currently working on a piece using inspiration to create a more fantastical art work. The art I create expresses my passions, interests and political ideologies I have as an artist.

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Mayumi Lemus

My Artwork deals with personal cultural and political themes surrounding Chicanx/Latinx identity within California. I aim to capture experiences and feelings that are universal to working class Chicanx/Latinx youth and our upbringing through the use of documentary style photography, symbolism, and portraiture as a way to put our narrative back into our own hands. Analog photography is my medium of choice, and I like experimenting with mixed media approaches using my skills in adobe photoshop, alternate printing processes, oil painting, and other traditional mediums like graphite, soft pastels or even sewing and embroidery. I want to continue using 35mm photography, alternate printing processes, and traditional drawing mediums to create pieces of work that reflect my story and reality as a first generation Mexican-Guatemalan-American young woman born and raised in industrial California through a fine art lens.

Instagram: @24mlll

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Freddy Padilla

I make my art to express my feelings, or to try to illuminate ideas and concepts for others to think about and enjoy. I’m inspired by paying attention to the things that others may overlook. The peripheral visions.

Most of my work is approachable from far away, then again close up, and again as you digest it. For some pieces, I research and learn about other people’s lives, materials, textures, seasons. I think about what I consider to be very human thoughts, and make art to see if others think about or recognize any of those things too. Even if I use alien creatures or fantastical situations on unbelievable worlds, I want to empathize with people, and I want to inspire them to feel seen and to see what the world and creativity has to offer.

Instagram: @noonesart 

Website: https://nooneart.com

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Michelle Reyes Mendoza

Hello there, my name is Michelle, am a 3rd year transfer and 1st generation student – coming from a hardworking background who I strive to be and ready for a better future for tomorrow. Art have been huge part of my life since childhood – No matter what matter I have in hand, whether they meant to be art or not, I find joy in the process and build my creativity and curiosity. As time went on, I practice and build on my skills set and creativity so I can explore on what can I make, show what I learn but also showcase my storytelling and how I share my emotions through my work. My main goal is to express my emotion and thinking process, the experience I witness in my life, but also who I am not just a person but also an artist.

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Anna Rubio

My art is an exploration of the connection between real life and imagination through recreations of my lived reality through the lens of abstraction, which are showcased in vibrant mixed media work. Through the use of different artistic techniques, I am able to translate my personal experiences onto a canvas and offer an introspective view of my relationship with existence. Some of the themes of my artwork include identity, the complexity of emotion, and the idea of beauty. A paintbrush becomes an extension of my hand and a canvas is where I can really use my voice to tell stories, share memories, and show myself. My goal is for viewers to get a glimpse of what is inside my heart. I think that is as vulnerable as an artist gets.

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Frederica Torres 

My artwork dissects opposing concepts to reveal hidden truths. My most recent work examines specific dualities that allude back to the broader relationship between Mexico and the U.S., including life and death, my relationship to masculinity and femininity, and the tension between humans and nature. These themes are informed by the cultural expectations I experienced growing up and the contrast between my homes: Mexico City, an urban metropolis adorned with pockets of greenery, and Santa Cruz, a mountainous, natural environment, and LA which lies somewhere in between.. 
Through my creative practice, I create worlds where divisions dissolve, where boys can be feminine and girls can be masculine, where forests and buildings coexist or where life and death are one in the same. My aim is that these immersive environments will invite viewers to question dual identities and reflect on the complexity of their own lived experiences.

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Bella Velasquez

Hello, I’m Bella Velasquez. I am currently pursuing an Art B.A. and Environmental Studies B.A. at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I have a diverse skill set, covering acrylic, oil, and gouache, though I mainly use acrylic paint. Most of my artwork focuses on figure and still life painting, and surrealism. I enjoy drawing people and animals because I feel they express more emotion and can be very different from one another. I use bold lines and color to amplify emotion, and through surrealism, I am able to play, experiment, and add more to my paintings. My inspiration often comes from my childhood and my culture, and I enjoy combining both since they are so intertwined. Through my work, I hope to continue expressing my love for creating art that focuses on color and emotion, and to give viewers space to make their own conclusions, which is what first made me fall in love with art.

Instagram: @oddly_cattly   |   TikTok: @oddly_cattly

Website: https://velasquez-bella-portfolio.my.canva.site

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