Elsy Zavarce

Elsy Zavarce is a multidisciplinary visual artist, interdisciplinary researcher, and an emeritus professor at the University of Zulia. She was born in Canada but lived in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Since 2019, she has been a full-time Ph.D. student in Art Education at Concordia University. Currently, she coordinates ESCOLARTE, an Educational Program for high school students in Maracaibo. Her research interests encompass the roles of artists, educators, and curators in advancing socially engaged art, fostering communities of practice, and co-creating urban spaces that inspire imagination, foster belonging, resilience, and resistance.

As an artist, she has explored various means of expression. Her work has been exhibited in Venezuela, Canada, USA, being part of private and public collections as in the Museum of the Americas. She has participated in numerous exhibitions and individual projects: 2023 A.llegadxs. FoFA Gallery Concordia University, 2023 Creadoras. National Gallery of Venezuela, Caracas. Memory of the Objects – Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia (MACZUl, 2017), among others. Guest artist in numerous Art Salons stands out: Art in the Era of Discoveries (MACZUL, 2015) invited by L. A. Duque. She has been worthy of academic recognition and distinctions in the arts, such as the Special Mention in the Aragua Art Salon (2012) and the First Prize in three-dimensional work in the Caribbean Art Salon (2000). She has several important artist-curatorial works from Ene Incident (1999-2014), Body in Question (Cuerpo en Cuestión) (MACZUL 2018), and Confined Bodies (Maczul 2020).