María Rendón - Featured Panelist        
Painter

María Rendón (b. 1965, Mexico City) lives and works in Santa Barbara. She received her MFA from University of California Santa Barbara, and her BFA from ArtCenter College of Design. Her paintings and installations have been exhibited at California State Long Beach, Sullivan Goss Gallery, HeyThere Projects, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Atkinson Gallery, Art Design and Architecture Museum at UCSB, Santa Barbara Museum of Art at McCormick House. She has taught at ArtCenter College of Design and University of California Santa Barbara. Her work is featured in New American Paintings #123, #175, Graphis #355 and Taschen’s “Illustration Now”.

Silvia Perea - Facilitator        
Architect and Curator - Architecture and Design Collection        
UCSB AD&A Museum

Silvia Perea is an architect (M.Arch), Ph.D., and Curator of the Architecture and Design Collection at the AD&A Museum (University of California, Santa Barbara). Dr. Perea holds a Doctorate in Architecture with Honors from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and a Certificate in Museum Studies from Harvard University. Throughout her career, Dr. Perea has combined teaching and publishing with the organization of exhibitions. Dr. Perea has taught at international universities, including Columbia (NY), CEPT (India), Blas Pascal (Argentina), and the UPM (Spain). She has also published extensively, working as an editor of Arquitectura Viva, and contributing articles to magazines such as Domus, Architectural Record, Potlatch, Minerva, and Arquitectura, among others. As a curator, Dr. Perea has organized over a dozen exhibitions of art and architecture for American and European museums. Her curatorial practice advocates the integration of both disciplines as a means to enrich their respective discourses and perspectives.

Áxela Ritchie - Student Representative        
Vocalist, Theater Performer, Visual Artist, and VADA Senior

Áxela Ritchie is an 18-year-old vocalist, theater performer, and visual artist currently completing her senior year in VADA. Her visual work focuses on oil painting, building on years of sketching and drawing, and often explores emotionally expressive themes.

Ritchie has developed her vocal training with a strong interest in jazz and soul and has performed in theater productions both on and off campus, including plays and musicals. She also serves as president of the Black Student Union and choir president, supporting student leadership and arts engagement at her school.

Interested in psychology and the liberal arts, she enjoys exploring how emotion and human experience shape creativity. After graduating, Ritchie hopes to attend college in New York or pursue study-abroad opportunities through SBCC.