Valerie Aranda is a visual artist from Tempe, Arizona. In her artwork she focuses on painting, drawing, and muralism. She received her BFA in painting from Arizona State University and her MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Creating narrative based paintings with culturally affirming images, Aranda’s artwork examines her identity where she explores issues of place, race, gender roles, and cultural traditions in the Mexican American family. “Drawing from my Mexican, American, and Indigenous roots, I examine the negotiating between differing worldviews within the U.S. and the Americas and my use of culturally affirming imagery is a decolonizing strategy.”