Arts District Liberty Station names emerging artist residency awardees

San Diego will be home to eight emerging artists for the next year thanks to the Emerging Artist Residency program from Arts District Liberty Station.

Arts District Liberty Station is a local nonprofit with a 100-acre campus that fosters culture, art and creativity. The Emerging Artist Residency program helps visual and performing artist develop their work and build their career in and around San Diego. It offers rent-free studio space and provides mentorships, art showcases and community engagement initiatives for the awardees.  

Four visual artists and four performing artists were chosen for the 2025-2026 program.

“The selected artists reflect the diversity, energy, and innovation that defines Arts District Liberty Station,” Lisa Johnson, Arts District Liberty Station president and chief executive officer, said in a release. “We’re proud to support them in this next chapter of their careers and thrilled for the community to experience their work.”

The majority of the artists are San Diego-based, though several are from Tijuana, Mexico. Each artist has different mediums and backgrounds. Some are recent college graduates, others have been teaching and sharing their passion for years.

Eden DeLaVara is a mixed media artist from San Diego. She mostly paints and draws, using vibrant colors and textures to bring new perspective to otherwise mundane things. She is working on a new body of work inspired by African American quilting practices. 

Audrey Gingras, who is originally from Portland, Oregon but is now San Diego-based, creates sculptures. She used fused glass, stained glass, ceramics and steel welding for her creations. She said she was most excited to collaborate within a supportive, creative community.

Other visual artist residency awardees include Ana Saad, based in San Diego, and Marcela Alarcon Lopez, based in Tijuana, Mexico.

The performing artists residents for 2025-2026 are Miguel Galvan, Giovanna Francisco, Lilian Ibarra Pantoja, and Rachel Torres.

Francisco, though not from San Diego, isn’t too far from home. Originally from Palm Springs, she studied dance and sociology at UCSD where she expanded her practice into ballet, contemporary and modern dance. She is excited to explore her creative process in a new setting at Arts District Liberty Station, she said.

Arts District Liberty Station said it experienced a high influx of submissions this year for the residency program. The artists this year were chosen by the nonprofit’s Art in Public Places Committee.