Cecilia Beaven

Originally from Mexico City, Cecilia Beaven (she/her) is a Chicago-based visual artist whose practice spans painting, drawing, animation, and sculpture. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from ENPEG La Esmeralda in Mexico City. Through her work, Beaven develops a speculative mythology articulated through distinctive visual narratives that weave a sense of play and absurdity with identity and storytelling.

Her multidisciplinary practice has been presented in solo exhibitions in Chicago, Houston, and Mexico City, and in group exhibitions across Mexico, the United States, Colombia, Sweden, Italy, and Japan. She has also painted murals in cities including Chicago, Houston, Hiketa, Paris, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Pachuca, Tepoztlán, and Tijuana.

Beaven’s recognitions include the Chicago Artists Coalition Residency (2024–2026), a 3Arts Fellowship (2024), the Radicle Studio Residency at Hyde Park Art Center (2021), the Leroy Neiman Foundation Fellowship at Ox-Bow School of Art (2019), and a Fulbright award (2017). In 2022, Forbes México named her one of the “100 Most Creative Mexicans in the World,” and in 2023, Newcity magazine included her in its “Art 50: Chicago’s Artists’ Artists” list.