Alamo Colleges Announces Vincent Valdez as Inaugural Artist-in-Residence

The Alamo Colleges District is proud to announce Vincent Valdez as its inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the 2025–2026 academic year, marking a significant milestone in the work of the recent formation of the Alamo Colleges District Visual and Performing Arts Commission and its commitment to accessible and transformative arts education.

A San Antonio native with national and international recognition, Valdez is known for blending large, representational paintings– the scale of which recall Western traditions of history painting as well as mural painting and cinema– with contemporary subject matter. He focuses on subjects that explore his observations and experience of life in the twenty-first century.

Throughout his year-long residency, Valdez will lead immersive learning experiences with Alamo Colleges students and the San Antonio community to deepen critical thinking, encourage artistic expression, and promote meaningful dialogue through the arts. Support from the Texas Commission for the Arts will help cover costs associated with the spring 2026 portion of the residency.

“I look forward to engaging with the Alamo Colleges District community, faculty, and students. This partnership offers an important opportunity– an exchange of ideas, personal stories, social histories, in a moment when building community and supporting our youth matters most,” Valdez said.

Valdez’s career includes prestigious honors such as the Ford and Mellon Foundations Latinx Artist Fellowship (2022), the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors (2016), and residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting, Vermont Studio Center, Kunstlerhaus Bethania Berlin, and Arion Press’ King Residency. His work is represented in major collections including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, The National Portrait Gallery, LACMA, MASS MoCA, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and The Ford Foundation. He currently lives and works between Houston and Los Angeles.

Advancing Arts Across the Alamo Colleges District

Valdez’s residency will include classroom visits and student talks during the fall and spring semesters, featuring guest lectures, studio visits, and discussions with students across the Alamo Colleges District. 

As part of his residency, Valdez will be working on an exhibition scheduled to be held at the Common Ground Gallery located at ACCESS in Summer 2026. The exhibition will present new pieces from Valdez honoring his late great-grandfather, who was also an artist. Complementary public programs will include an artist talk, and a panel discussion with local artists, scholars, and students, creating opportunities for deeper dialogue and reflection.

In April 2026, Valdez will also serve as the featured keynote speaker at the Alamo Colleges District Visual and Performing Arts Summit.