Maru López

Wandering and Wondering

CV

Education 

Warren Wilson College, Asheville, North Carolina 
MA in Critical Craft Studies 
Specialization in craft knowledges used by contemporary artists in Puerto Rico 

  • Thesis: Interwoven Mesh of Re-existence: Craft Knowledges in Puerto Rico 
  • Mentors: Alpesh Kantilal Patel, Pablo Helguera, PJ Gubatina Policarpio 

Alchimia Scuola di Gioielleria Contemporanea, Florence, Italy 
Specialization in Contemporary Jewelry 

  • Mentored by Peter Bauhuis, Manfred Bischoff, and Ruudt Peters 

Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 
Graduate Studies in 20th-Century History 

  • Focus on Puerto Rican visual culture (1950s) 

Parsons School of Design, New York, New York 
A.A.S. in Fashion Design 

Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 
B.A. in History 

  • Concentration in 20th-Century Latin American History 

Publications – Written Works 

Forthcoming 

  • Where the Jacho Stills Flicker: Crafting Cultural Resistance”,  in Craft Education: Teaching, Learning, Knowing, and Making Craft in the United States and 

Territories, ed Daisy Alejandre, Sara Clugage, O.M. Comstock, Michelle Millar Fisher, PhD, Mary Savig, Yutong Shi, Namita Gupta Wiggers, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2027 

  •  
  • “Material Conversations: Making and Learning in La Escuela de Oficios,” in Craft Schools: Where We Make What We Inherit, ed. Michelle Millar Fisher, Museum of Fine Arts Boston & Schiffer Publishing, 2026 

2025 

  • “Markings into a Different World,” Current Obsession Magazine, 2025 

2024 

  • “Craft, Crises, and Colonialism: Reimagining Puerto Rico,” Journal of Modern Craft (peer-reviewed) 
  • “One Work: Luciano Pimienta,” HereIn Journal 

2023 

  • “Crafts, Lists, and Fairs: Constructing Puerto Rican Identity in the 1950s,” Hyperallergic 

2021 

  • “Accents, Eñes, and the Language of Jewelry: Colectiva Tilde,” Craft Desert Zine 
  • “It Just Got Started,” in Crucible: Publication’21 

Selected Presentations & Lectures 

2025 

  • “Reflections: Creative Aging in Museum Education at MCASD,” Museums and Trust, American Alliance of Museums Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA 

2024 

  • “The Places that Inhabit Me: 20 Years of Jewelry Making,” Artist Lecture, La Frontera Programming, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA 
  • “Rizoma: Broadening Our Community Through Connections,” SNAG Conference, San Diego State University, CA 

2023 

  • “Crafts, Lists, and Fairs: Constructing Puerto Rican Identity in the 1950s,” Craft Archive Fellowship Presentation, Center for Craft & Hyperallergic, online 

2022 

  • “Interwoven Mesh of Re-existence: Craft Knowledges in Puerto Rico,” Moriviví: Activating Puerto Rican Futures, Puerto Rican Studies Association Conference, Mount Holyoke College, MA 
  • “Craft Schools: People,” Esther Steinberg Memorial Lecture, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, online 

Group Exhibitions (Selected) 

2025 

  • A Really Good Sculpture Show, Harvest and Gather, Other Places Art Fair, San Pedro, CA 

2024 

  • Missed Connections, Art Produce, San Diego, CA 
  • La Frontera, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA & Centro Cultural de Tijuana–CECUT, Tijuana, México 

2023 

  • La Frontera, El Rubin Center, El Paso, TX & Centro Cultural de la Frontera, Ciudad Juárez, México 
  • Rizoma, Flex Gallery, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 
  • Stone Soup, Two Rooms, La Jolla, CA 

2022 

  • Raíces, Galería de la Tierra, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, México 

2021 

  • Raíces, Equinox Gallery, San Antonio, TX 
  • Día de los Muertos Invitational, Equinox Gallery, San Antonio, TX 

2020 

  • Passenger, Munich, Germany 
  • Insurgencies: Women’s Art on the Border in the Cold War Era, The Front Arte & Cultura, San Diego, CA 

2019 

  • Hot Dog Show, Chicago, IL 
  • Vecinos II: Bienal Latinoamericana de Joyería Contemporánea, Museo Municipal de Arte Decorativo Firma y Odilo Estevez, Rosario, Argentina 

2018 

  • Back Again, Forever, Freehand Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 
  • Vecinos II, Museo de Artes Populares José Hernández, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

2017–2010 
Additional exhibitions in San Diego, Boston, Florence, Munich, Rome, Barcelona, Vienna, Leipzig, Mexico City, and more. 
(Full list available upon request) 

Awards & Fellowships 

2022 

  • Craft Archive Fellowship, Center for Craft, Asheville, NC 

2019 

  • Artist Grant, William Male Foundation, San Diego, CA 

2011 

  • Premio Fondazione Cominelli per il Gioiello Contemporaneo, Brescia, Italy