Carmen Menza is an interdisciplinary artist creating fine art and technology-based installations utilizing light, painting, interactive software, music composition and sound design. Her work explores themes of time, space, color, perception and human connection. Her public and commercial installations have been created for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, TX, Meow Wolf, the McKinney Avenue Contemporary Museum, Dallas, TX, Dallas Aurora Light & Sound Festival, UTSW Clements University Hospital, Dallas, TX, Baylor Dallas Hospital, Dallas, TX, Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX, Cerulean Gallery, Dallas, TX, Octavia Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA and more. Her films have screened at the Dallas International Film Festival, Dallas Video Festival, Austin Film Festival and the KERA Public television show – Frame of Mind. She is a TACA 2019 New Works Fund Grant recipient, a Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs – Arts Activate Grant 2019 recipient and a former Cedars Union Artist Residency recipient. She is a founding member of Texas Vignette, a non-profit organization that promotes the arts by providing support, education and producing the annual Vignette Art Fair, showing and amplifying the work of women artists throughout Texas. She received her BFA in jazz guitar performance from the University of North Texas.

Education

1999 – BFA cum laude, Jazz Guitar Performance, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Professional Experience

2000 – present: Interdisciplinary Artist

Mediums include: Light boxes, neon, painting, video, new media, generative animation, music 1986 – 1999: editor, graphics designer, director. Clients include American Airlines (Dallas, TX),

KXAS/NBC (Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX), Alcon (Ft. Worth, TX), WFAA/ABC (Dallas, TX), Virtuoso (Ft. Worth, TX)

Exhibitions * indicates solo or duo show

2023 – Summer Group Show, Cerulean Gallery, Dallas, TX 2023 – *Octavia Gallery, New Orleans, LA

2023 – Meow Wolf, Grapevine, TX

2023 – “Women-Life-Freedom”, DFW exhibit Irving Arts Center 2022 – * Mesquite Arts Center, Mesquite, TX

2021 – “Negotiating Dialogues”, world premiere, modern chamber work and generative visuals, spoken word performance, Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Soluna Festival, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Cedars Union

2021 – “Off the Grid”, Cerulean Gallery, Dallas, TX

2019 – “Hyperlocal”, Artists of the Cedars Union, The MAC, Dallas, TX 2019 – *“Unfolding the Sun”, exhibit at Carneal Simmons, Dallas, TX

2019 – *“Chasing Light”, immersive installation, One Love Festival, Manassas, VA

2018 – *“The Velocity of Light”, Aurora Light and Sound Biennial, The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, TX, Curator, Shane Pennington and Joshua King

2018 – “Staring at the Sun”, Soluna Festival – Dallas, TX, Curators: Gillian Friedman-Fox, Erica Felicella 2018 – “Beyond 10”, Dallas International Film Festival, Dallas, TX

2018 – “The Color of Life”, Vignette Art Fair, Women’s Museum, Dallas, TX, Curators: Erin K. Murphy, Jessie Moncrief, Dee Lara

2017 – “Beyond 10”, Producer Bart Weiss, KERA-Frame of Mind, Dallas, TX

2017 – *”Shed Some Light”, Curator, Dustin Orlando, Circuit12 Contemporary, Dallas, TX

2017 – “Exhibit Biennial: Origins in Geometry”, Curator Magdalena Mujica de Arria, The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art, Dallas, TX

2017 – “Pleased To Meet You”, Open Space, Dallas, TX, Curator Caroline Belanger and Nancy Cohen Israel 2017 – Vignette Art Fair, Women’s Museum, Dallas, TX, Curator, Chelsea Pierce

2016, 2015 – *Cerulean Gallery, Amarillo, TX

2015 – “The Theory of Chance”, Aurora Light and Sound Biennial, Dallas, TX, Curator, Aja Martin 2014 – “Dream Big”, Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, TX

2013, 2011 – “Dream Big”, “The Wish”, Aurora Light and Sound Biennial, Dallas, TX, Curator, Shane Pennington and Joshua King

2012 – 2015 – “Modartists Show”, Modartists Gallery, Dallas, TX 2014 – *Ilume Gallerie, Dallas, TX

2012 – *AC/OC, Cohn Drennan Gallery, Dallas, TX

2012 – Quenched, 2nd Annual Water Thirst Art Auction, Curator – Aja Martin, Goss/Michael Foundation, Dallas, TX

2009 – D Art Slam Juried Exhibition, F.I.G. Industries, Dallas, TX 2008 – *2009 – Cerulean Gallery, Dallas, TX

2008 – *Business Council for the Arts, Omnicom, Dallas, TX 2007 – *Ice House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX

2005 – *Visual Arts Guild of Frisco, Frisco, TX

Artist Talks

2021 – “Experts Talk on the Carter” The Art of Nontraditional Sculpture, Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TX 2019 – “Unfolding the Sun”, exhibit at Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX

2018 – “A Day in the Life . . . ”, The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, TX.

2018 – “New Media Panel Discussion”, presented by Cedars Union and Ro2. Moderated by Joshua King of Aurora Light and Sound Biennial, Dallas, TX.

2018 – “A Conversation with New Media Artists” presented by Array, Dallas, TX. Moderated by Erica Felicella.

2018 – “Shed Some Light”, Circuit12 Contemporary, Dallas, TX. Moderated by Jessica Ingle

Contributions to Arts Community

2014 – present: Texas Vignette, Dallas, TX

Passionately work to amplify the voices of women artists as a founding member of Texas Vignette, a non- profit organization that promotes Texas women artists by providing support, education, grants and connection in the arts.

2007 – present, Honored to be a contributing member of the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center’s Art for Advocacy auction providing support for abused children.

2019, Juror for Artist Residency Fund Grant, TACA Grants, Greg Oertel, Programs & Marketing Manager 2018, Juror for New Works Fund Grant, TACA Grants, Greg Oertel, Programs & Marketing Manager 2018 – present, Public Art Committee member, City of Mesquite, Cohn Drennan – Mesquite Arts Center Manager

Student Workshops

2019 – 2022, Artist technology workshops for middle school students, Raul S. Quintanilla Middle School, Dallas, TX

2021, Artist technology workshop for students of Wade College, Dallas, TX

2019, Dallas Contemporary, College Night workshop for students, through the Cedars Union

Selected Public Collections

UTSW, Clements University Hospital, Dallas, TX Baylor Hospital, Dallas, TX

Baylor Hospital, Ft. Worth, TX

The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, Dallas, TX The Family Place, Dallas, TX

Awards

TWU, Women’s Small Business AccelerateHER Program, September 2021

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, TACA 2019 New Works Fund Grant recipient for my work “Negotiating Dialogues”

Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Arts Activate Grant 2019, recipient for my work “Negotiating Dialogues” Cedars Union Artist Residency, The Cedars Union, Dallas, TX, Sept. 2018 – March 2020

Virginia Commission for the Arts, Project Grant New Works recipient for “Chasing Light”

Organizations

2021 – present, Creative Director, Texas Vignette.org 2019 – 2021, Advisory Board, Texas Vignette.org

2014 – 2019, Founding member, Vice-President – Texas Vignette.org, Dallas, TX

Media and Publications

2021, Glasstire, Texas Visual Art, “A Return to Performance” Review, Colette Copeland, October 20, 2021 2021, North Texan, University of North Texas publication, Vol. 72, No. 2, “Visioning Music”

2020, Patron Magazine, April 2020, “A Moveable Musical Visual Feast” 2019, “Cartographic Gestures”, MAP, Make Art with a Purpose, Dallas, TX 2018, “Holding Pattern Volume II”, DADE Collective, Dallas, TX

Selected Charity List

2007 – 2023, Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, Dallas, TX

2019 – Promise House, Dallas, TX, Non-Profit organization for ending youth homelessness 2008 – 2016, DIFFA, Black Tie Dinner, Dallas, TX

2015 – United Way/Family Compass – Legendary Evening, Dallas, TX 2015 – The Family Place, Dallas, TX

2008 – 2014, Aids Interfaith Network – Dallas, TX 2014 – Dwell with Dignity, Dallas, TX

2012 – 2013, Aids Resource Center of Dallas, Dallas, TX 2012 – 2013, Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, TX