Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Rafaela Luna is a Dominican-born contemporary visual artist and art educator based in New York City. She holds an MA in Art Education from the City University of New York and studied painting and visual arts at the National School of Fine Arts and the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. Her multidisciplinary practice explores themes of race, gender, identity, migration, and cultural memory through symbolism, autobiographical narratives, and female representation. Luna’s work reflects her Dominican heritage and experiences living in New York City, blending vibrant color, cultural iconography, and social commentary. She has exhibited widely in galleries and cultural institutions across New York and the Dominican Republic, and was a 2021 DEAR-CCCADI Fellow and a 2023 participant in the New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, where she later served as a mentor supporting emerging immigrant artists.