About the Artist
Blanca Herrada is a Queer, Mexican American Artist and Activist living and working in Lawrence, Kansas. Blanca’s practice spans multiple disciplines. She is a visual artist, primarily working in oil painting, a curator, and a teaching artist. Blanca thrives when working within the intersections of art and activism and is passionate about her community. In 2022, Blanca was chosen as one of 52 BIPOC arts and culture leaders selected for the inaugural National Leaders of Color Fellowship. In 2024, she was chosen for the fourth cycle of artEquity’s BIPOC Leadership Circle. She has served as the Exhibitions Coordinator at the Lawrence Arts Center since 2021. Blanca enjoys working with diverse communities to share her passion for the arts and strives to make art spaces more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Artist Statement
Blanca Herrada’s multidisciplinary visual work focuses on her life experiences, frequently incorporating political themes or underlying meanings surrounding subjects like identity, familial ties, and unspoken feelings. Using oil paint as her primary medium, Blanca’s paintings are often fused with mixed media to create contemporary pieces that combine traditional and modern methods. Blanca’s work as a curator is rooted in uplifting marginalized voices and providing space for real, educational, and collaborative conversations across intersections to build relationships and understanding between people. Community is at the basis of Blanca’s praxis as an artist and an activist. She works collaboratively with community members and artists across disciplines to bring art into as many spaces and lives as she can.
Press
2025 – Local Stories: Conversations with Blanca Herrada, Stephanie Hernandez, VoyageKC Magazine
2022 – Core. Issue 7, December 2022, Brittany Noriega, Core Zine KC
2022 – 2022-23 National Leaders of Color Fellowship, Leaders of Color Network
2020 – Winter/Spring Catalog Features Work Lifting the Underrepresented, Andrea Albright, The Lawrence Arts Center
2019 – Lawrence Artist Celebrates People of Color, Cole Blaise and John McGrath, Behind the Mise En Scene, Flatland KC
2019 – How Artist Blanca Herrada Highlights People of Color, Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Broad Strokes for Flatland KC