Artists Who Have Shaped the Residency Program
Explore visual and performing artists who have participated in the Emerging Artist Residency Program at Arts District Liberty Station, contributing new ideas, performances, and creative perspectives to the San Diego arts community.
2025 Emerging Visual Artists
Helena Westra
Based in San Diego, Helena Westra is a multifaceted artist specializing in sculpture, ceramics, performance and land art. Utilizing a diverse range of accessible and often locally harvested materials such as clay, dirt and found objects, her work serves as a meditation on introspection, release and grounding. Helena delves into the realms of symbology and archetypes, employing themes of flora and fauna to forge a deep connection between the land and environment. (Website)
Amanda DiGiovanni
Born and raised in San Diego, local artist Amanda DiGiovanni has always been captivated by the dynamic nature of multimedia art and its ability to transcend boundaries. Her creative journey began at a young age, experimenting with various techniques and mediums, leading her to continue her artistic pursuits. Through her work in sculpture, performance and photography, Amanda evokes profound reflections on human existence.
Eden DeLaVara
Eden DeLaVara (she/her) is a mixed media artist based in San Diego whose work explores belonging, comfort, and intercultural exchange through the lens of her Mexican-American and Black identities. Her figurative paintings and drawings use vibrant color and texture to celebrate everyday moments while drawing inspiration from contemporary Black art movements and creative practices along the U.S.–Mexico border.
During her residency, Eden is developing a new body of work combining the legacy of African American quilting with contemporary painting and fiber art.
Marcela Alarcón López
Tijuana-based artist Marcela Alarcón López (she/her) blends her background in psychotherapy with visual arts to explore emotional and psychological narratives. Her work spans painting and sculpture, incorporating experimental materials such as cement, acrylics, transparencies, and unconventional supports.
Through the residency, Marcela is expanding her artistic practice while developing a more cohesive body of work.
2024 Emerging Visual Artists
Gracie Moon
As a Japanese American and white artist, Gracie Moon explores themes of racial and cultural intersectionality through her sculptural and performative work. She is currently developing a new body of work that integrates ceramics, performance and sculpture, utilizing materials such as food, found objects, and both industrial and domestic items to create visual poetry. These stories navigate the tension of the in-between spaces where the complexities of her multicultural identity are examined.
Sean Sarmiento
Prior to his debut residency in Arts District Liberty Station, Sean Sarmiento has showcased his captivating work throughout Southern California. As a photo-based artist, he manipulates architectural and photographic norms to challenge traditional perceptions of photography and two-dimensionality. Sean has exhibited his work at the Athenaeum Museum in La Jolla, Palos Verdes Art Center and the Student Life Pavilion and Metro Building at the University of San Diego, among others. His imagery often explores themes of home, capturing his own body in domestic settings to evoke feelings of being in-between, moments that are both unknown and familiar.
2023 Emerging Visual Artist
Leslye Villaseñor
Leslye Villaseñor is a recent Studio Arts graduate from UC San Diego who has exhibited in several venues across San Diego, including the South Central Library in Chula Vista, the Student Gallery at Southwestern College, the Adam D. Kamil Gallery at UCSD, and the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla. Her growing body of work reflects her early presence in the local art scene.
Primarily working in oil painting, her practice explores themes of human consciousness, memory, perception, and emotion through a deeply personal and introspective lens. Her pieces often carry a melancholic, dreamlike quality, inviting viewers to connect with and immerse themselves in each moment. Through her recent work and ongoing exploration, Leslye continues to push into new ideas, materials, and creative directions as she develops her professional career.
2024/2025 Emerging Dance Artists
Joyce Lien Kushner
Born and raised in San Diego, Joyce Lien Kushner’s first love has always been dancing, specializing in modern, contemporary and dance conditioning. Despite moving away and switching career paths for a short period of time, Joyce’s journey has led her back to her hometown, reigniting her passion for not only creating captivating dance pieces but also teaching and training dancers of all ages across California. With this residency in Arts District Liberty Station, Joyce aims to curate an Asian American dance showcase, championing diverse narratives, fostering collaboration through innovative choreographic practices, and providing dedicated space for dance artists to refine their craft. Her vision embodies a commitment to nurturing creativity, amplifying underrepresented voices, and cultivating a vibrant, inclusive dance community in San Diego.
Lexii Regina
Is a multidisciplinary movement artist known for her curious exploration of storytelling. Utilizing the mediums of acrobatic dance, physical theater, improvisation, modern dance, and circus, she creates works exploring mental health, human connections, the communities that lift us up, and the hope that keeps us going. Lexii is thrilled to have been chosen as an Emerging Artist at Arts District Liberty Station and looks forward to using the beautiful studio space to develop a variety of short-form and evening length performances and dance films.
Micah Parra
Micah Parra has always been immersed in the world of dance. Growing up, Micah was quickly integrated into the circus community, leading her to the San Diego Circus Center in 2021. Since then, Micah continued to hone in on her acrobatic skills through various programs around San Diego. Excited to have a beautiful, accessible space to collaborate with other artists of multiple mediums, Micah looks to cultivate her own creative voice and facilitate a space where people learn to appreciate art as an invaluable tool for healthy expression and human connectivity.
2024/2025 Emerging Dance Artists
Trixi Anne Agiao
Trixi Anne Agiao is a socially conscious performer, choreographer and filmmaker using the digital guise of The Thoughtful Beast. She creates work centered on fighting the stigma against mental illness and mental health. Trixi graduated Summa Cum Laude from UC San Diego where she received most of her formalized dance training. She grew up practicing indigenous Igorot dances from the Philippines. Trixi spent time as a dancer and assistant director with Visionary Dance Theatre and is now a freelancer who has been expanding her performing and creating mediums.
Trixi actively participates in the following organizations: Movement Catalysts San Diego, The Filam Film Collective, The San Diego Filipino Cinema, United AAPI Artists, Visionary Dance Theatre and Mental Wellness for Artists. T
Lavina Rich
Choreographer and founder of Push Process Movement, Lavina is focused on exploring the human experience through movement, humor and shared emotions. She studied dance at Grossmont College and then UCSD, learning from many of San Diego’s finest dance creators and educators.
Lavina performed at the Without Walls (WOW) Festival, produced by the La Jolla Playhouse, in April 2022. It was here that Lavina premiered her new work, The Reticent Volcano. She is now shifting and beginning a new work for Disco Riot’s first Queer Movement Festival in June 2022. This work will explore the life of Nancy Valverde and the masquerading laws of the 1940/1950s in Southern California.
Marcella Torres-Sánchez
Marcella is from Tijuana, México, where she began her dance training at Denz Dance Studio at the age of three. She then continued her artistic and experimental studies at Lux Boreal Dance Company, where she received a certification in Contemporary Dance and Scenic Production. She was a member of Gloria Campobello Dance School and the Northwest México Ballet, and later received her Associate’s Degree in Visual and Performing Arts from San Diego City College. In 2020, Marcella graduated with honors from UC San Diego where was awarded the Patricia Rincon Diversity Award for her senior capstone project “Flores Ma(r)chitas.”
2019/ 2020 Emerging Artists
Remi Dalton
San Diego-based artist. Her work investigates how internet culture has blurred the boundaries between art and life, aesthetics and ethics. Her practice is centered around painting, but also includes video, mixed media, and installation. Remi received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from San Diego State University in 2019, and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Visual Arts and Chemistry from the University of San Diego in 2014.
Nina Montejano
Nina Montejano is a visual artist currently based in San Diego. Working in a variety of media, she uses subjects that carry personal implications and meanings, which she has developed through her own life experiences. Her work is personally meditative in its repetition of ordinary subjects and material handling; more importantly, however, it raises questions of meaning rather than giving a direct answer. Nina earned her Bachelor of Arts in visual arts and architecture from the University of San Diego in 2019.