Monica Barrera is an artist and art educator with 20 years of experience in fine art studio practice and exhibiting work in galleries such as The Latino Cultural Center, the Bath House Cultural Center, and the Trammell Crow Center. She has nine years of experience teaching visual art. Monica attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, class of 2008, and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2017, she received her Master’s degree in Art Education from the University of North Texas.

Monica currently teaches art to elementary students in Oak Cliff, Texas, where she finds daily inspiration in their creativity and curiosity. She is vice president of 500X, Texas’s longest-running artist co-op gallery. 

Monica experiments with a variety of studio techniques, including ceramics, weaving, drawing, and printmaking.  Her work transforms philosophical theories in visual form.  Her colorful and playful style is inspired by her life as an art teacher and invites viewers to see the world from a refreshed and imaginative perspective.

When she isn’t teaching or creating art, Monica enjoys spending time with her son and family, learning Spanish, and tending to the school garden.