Marielena Ferrer

In her practice, Marielena explores the role of art in social change and various forms of social practice, especially the ways it manifests in political, public, and community art.

Marielena is a socially engaged, multidisciplinary artist who chairs the Kingston Arts Commission, is the executive director of Humanamente, a diversity and inclusion consulting organization, and chairs the steering committee for the Alianza Cultural de Kingston, a community-based organization whose mission is to foment, preserve and celebrate the culture and traditions of our diverse Hispanic/Latino heritage communities.

Additionally, Marielena sits on the Family of Woodstock Board of Directors, Arts Mid-Hudson Advisory Board, and is a teaching artist at the Department of Regional Art Workers, the D.R.A.W., in Midtown Kingston.

Marielena holds a BFA in Sculpture from SUNY New Paltz and is currently an MFA candidate there. She originally studied architecture at Central University of Venezuela, earned a certificate of distinction in “Leadership and Empowerment” from Spain’s Polytechnic University of Valencia and a diploma in “Gender Leadership” through the EQUAL Transnational Cooperation Community Initiative of the European Social Fund. In addition, Marielena earned a University Expert Diploma in “Mental Health, Cultural Processes and Psychological Interventions With Immigrants, Minorities and the Socially Excluded” from the University of Barcelona.