Teresa Dunn, a Mexican American artist and Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University, is using her artistic talent to shine a spotlight on women of color who are often overlooked or diminished. Dunn is now being honored with statewide and international awards for this work.
“The last several years of my practice, I have been focusing on people of color, immigrants, and people with multicultural experiences as those are the ones who tend to be left out or marginalized,” Dunn said. “Being a Mexican American woman, these issues are really important to me.”
Dunn’s experiences as a racially ambiguous brown Mexican American woman from the Midwest inform her artwork, including her current series of paintings, titled Long Lines of Women, that explore and honor marginalized women and their stories.
Paintings in this series recently were awarded the Artista Latino Award at ArtPrize 2024 and the Best in Show Award at the 95th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Muskegon Museum of Art.
“The last several years of my practice, I have been focusing on people of color, immigrants, and people with multicultural experiences as those are the ones who tend to be left out or marginalized. Being a Mexican American woman, these issues are really important to me.”
Dunn’s large-scale painting, A Long Line of Women, that is part of the Long Lines of Women series was one of about 900 pieces of art at this year’s ArtPrize competition, which was held Sept. 13-28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ArtPrize is an open, international art competition that takes place each year in Grand Rapids. The Artista Latino Award that Dunn won is a Community Award that was presented by the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“As a Mexican American artist,” Dunn said, “I am so proud of my heritage and am extremely grateful for this recognition.”
A Long Line of Women “celebrates Black and Brown women, immigrant women, multicultural women, and otherwise marginalized women who have connections and solidary through friendship, family (chosen and biological), mentorship, culture, and parallel lived experiences through vast ranges of kinships,” Dunn wrote in her artist statement.
This piece, as well as many other pieces created by Dunn, draws from Dunn’s own experiences and includes people in her life who inspire her.
“Most of the people in my paintings are people that I know – friends, family, former students, community members – and they’re all people I care about and who have real lives, real stories that are meaningful.”
In A Long Line of Women, which highlights the connections that women have and how they are linked together through family, friendships, work, and other shared experiences, Dunn features her daughter, mother, and grandmother as well as former students, friends, and other family members. Dunn also is pictured three times in the piece at different stages in her life.
“Most of the people in my paintings are people that I know – friends, family, former students, community members,” Dunn said, “and they’re all people I care about and who have real lives, real stories that are meaningful.”
A Long Line of Women is a massive piece that measures six feet tall by 20 feet across.
“The people in the painting are at, or larger than, life size and they invite you into the work,” Dunn said. “I hope that people feel like they’re a part of the story and they’re enveloped by the artwork.”
A Long Line of Women was displayed during ArtPrize 2024 as part of the “Coming Home” exhibition at Kendall College of Art and Design. This same painting was part of the 2024 Art, Art History, and Design Faculty Triennial exhibition at the MSU Broad Art Museum that was held Jan. 20-July 21, 2024. This work also was reproduced this past spring for a billboard-size display on the Board of Water and Light’s REO Town Central Substation in downtown Lansing as part of a rotating public mural project, called “Art Moves REO,” that is a joint program of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing and the REO Town Commercial Association.
Another painting by Dunn, titled All Yellow (Morgan Hill), that also is part of the Long Lines of Women series received Best of Show at the 95th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Muskegon Museum of Art. This piece features Morgan Hill, an MFA Candidate at MSU who is a student of Dunn and who recently was featured in a College of Arts & Letters article for her multilayered art installation.
The Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition, which runs Sept. 26-Nov. 13, 2024, at the Muskegon Museum of Art, is a competitive juried exhibition that showcases the work of Michigan artists. The exhibition offers a look at the issues, themes, and materials that inspire today’s Michigan artists. This year’s exhibition features paintings, printmaking, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, and installation.
The 2024 Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition was juried by artist Jonathan Thunder, who selected Dunn’s painting for the Best of Show Award. As the Best of Show winner, Dunn received $1,500 and her All Yellow (Morgan Hill) painting is featured on the cover of the exhibition brochure.
Dunn’s artwork also can be seen on a new sign that greets people as they drive along Saginaw Highway in Lansing. The sign, similar to the “HOLLYWOOD” sign, spells out the word “LANSING” in six-feet tall capital letters with each of the seven letters decorated by a different local artist who each created a unique design to represent the people, places, and spirit of Lansing.
“It was incredibly special to be included as one of seven women artists who each painted a letter in the Creative Placemaking project that represented a characteristic of Lansing that we valued,” Dunn said. “Each artists’ interpretation was unique and beautiful woven together into a vibrant and visually engaging piece.”
Dunn’s artwork appears on the letter “A” in the sign and is a painting of a former MSU student.
“As I highly value positive representations of women of color in my artwork, I proposed painting a portrait that was of a former MSU art student, Azya Moore, who has been a subject in a couple of my previous paintings including A Long Line of Women and The Ballad of Azya Moore (Ode to Zora Neale Hurston),” Dunn said. “It was an honor to be a part of this public art project!”
The “LANSING” sign is located at one of the city’s busiest intersections at the northeast corner of Saginaw Highway and Grand Avenue. Supported by funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Saginaw Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority, the sign was dedicated in a ceremony held on Sept. 23, 2024.
Dunn has been a member of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design faculty at MSU since 2006. She plans to continue working on more paintings in her Long Lines of Women series to showcase and honor women of color and the connections they have to each other.
Written by Kim Popiolek
