BIRTHPLACE

July 30, 1956, Harlem, NYC

EDUCATION

• B.A. in Fine Arts, 1981, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ,

SpecializaLon in general design, concentraLon in fine art

• A.A. in Liberal Arts, 1978, Cumberland County College, College Drive, Vineland, NJ

Associates degree, focusing on psychology

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Known since 1992 for creaLng Verdadism, a form of hard-edge, figuraLve abstract

expressionism juxtaposing painLngs with wriZen social commentaries

• In 1999 wrote a book on the Art of Verdadism, “Soraida’s Verdadism: The Voice of a Puerto

Rican Woman on Canvas; Unique Controversial Images and Style.”

• From 1996 to 1999, served as a member of the New Jersey State Council on The Arts.

• 2008, 2009, 2010: chosen by the Department of State as one of the 15 most prominent

Hispanic Americans shaping the U.S. cultural scene.

• In a Huffington Post LaLno Voices’ 2013 arLcle, named among “10 of the best LaLno ArLsts in

the U.S.”

• Verdadism painLngs used on the covers and pages of academic and scholarly books.

• Social advocacy through visiLng young children in schools to encourage and inspire them to

strive to achieve their fullest potenLal.

• In 2017, chosen for a Women’s History Month exhibiLon at the Women’s Rights NaLonal

Historical Park Museum in Seneca Falls, New York.

• In 2023, Verdadism art style recognized in a recent book on the Prado Museum Project to

include a gallery on LaLn American Art, “The Prado Museum Expansion: The Diverse Art of LaLn

America.”

* In 2024, received fellowship for painLng from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts

AWARDS

• 1995: "InspiraLon and Commitment" award, LaLno Chamber of Commerce, Mercer County-NJ

• 1996: "DisLnguished Woman of 1996" award, La Tribuna Newspaper of New Jersey /New York

• 1999: Inducted into the twenty-first ediLon (1999-2000) of Who's Who of American Women

• 2000: Soraida MarLnez ProclamaLon Day, Mayor's Office, AtlanLc City-NJ

• 2001: DisLnguished Alumni, Cumberland County College, Vineland-NJ

• 2016: Honored for contribuLons to the LaLno community with a cultural legacy award by the

Hispanic Bar AssociaLon of New Jersey

• 2019: CerLficate of AppreciaLon for visionary artwork promoLng social jusLce since 1992,

New Jersey NaLonal Guard

• 2024: Fellowship for painLng from the New Jersey Council on the Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1994: Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center (Andrew Vitagliano Art Gallery), Camden-NJ

1994: Camden Community Credit Union, Camden-NJ

1994: Passaic County Community College (Broadway Gallery), Paterson-NJ

1995: Markeim Art Center, Haddonfield-NJ

1995: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Trenton-NJ

1995: SASCA (Spanish-American Social & Cultural AssociaLon), Willingboro-NJ

1995: SerengeL Jazz Cafe, Pennsauken-NJ

1996: Trenton State College, Trenton-NJ

1996: Omni Cultural Center, West Chester-PA

1996: University of DenLstry & Medicine/School of Osteopathic Medicine, Strarord-NJ

1996: Cumberland County College (Frank Guaracini Fine Art Center), Vineland-NJ

1997: West Chester University "Women Of Color Conference," West Chester-PA

1997: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Orange-NJ

1997: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, New York-NY

1998: AtlanLc City Art Center, AtlanLc City-NJ

1998: University of the Arts, Philadelphia-PA

1998: Colombia University, New York-NY

1998: John Jay College of Criminal JusLce, New York-NY

1998: Balch InsLtute for Ethnic Studies, Philadelphia-PA

2001: University of the Sciences, Philadelphia-PA

2001: Trinity College, Harrord-CT

2002: Veterans AdministraLon Regional Offices, Philadelphia-PA

2004: Barnard College, New York-NY

2006: Harlem 3rd Annual Arts & Cultural CelebraLon, New York-NY

2006: NaLonal Conference on LaLnos and AIDS, Miami-FL

2007: Cumberland County College, Vineland-NJ

2007: Cecil Community College, Elkton-MD

2007: NaLonal Conference on LaLnos and AIDS, Miami-FL

2010: Messiah College, Grantham-PA

2010: Naugatuck Valley Community College, Waterbury, CT

2011: Johns Hopkins University, BalLmore, MD

2013: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

2014: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

2016: EducaLonal TesLng Service (ETS), Princeton, NJ

2016: Synchrony Bank, Bridgewater, NJ

2016: Hispanic Bar AssociaLon of New Jersey, Camden County, NJ

2017: Women’s Rights NaLonal Historical Park, Seneca Falls, NY

2017: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

2018: EducaLonal TesLng Service (ETS), Princeton, NJ

2019: The New Jersey NaLonal Guard, Fort Dix, NJ

2019: Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University, AtlanLc City, NJ

GROUP ART SHOWS

1996: Summit BanCorp, "LaLn-American ArLsts Group Show," Princeton-NJ

1996: Camden County Library "South Jersey Museum Group Show," Voorhees-NJ

1996: LaLn American Economic Development Assoc., "DisLnguished Regional ArLsts' Group

Show," Camden-NJ

1997: Paterson Museum, "The Diversity of The Art of The LaLna Woman," Paterson-NJ

2000: Delaware Art Museum, "A World of LaLn ArLsts," Wilmington-DE

2004: Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa. Farmington-PA

2017: Art show at LuminArté Fine Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas

VERDADISM GALLERY EXHIBITIONS

2008: Drawings for Peace and Tolerance

2009: 17 years of CulLvaLng Social Change...From an ArLst, Not From PoliLcians

2009: The Many Faces of Stereotypes

2009: Coming of Age: Hope Drawings from Original Verdadism PainLngs

2010: Tolerance in America – A RetrospecLve of PainLngs Created Since 1992

2011: Hispanic Heritage Month ExhibiLon. What does it mean to be LaLno in America?

2012: Verdadism: Twenty Years of Speaking out against Racism, Sexism and InjusLce.

2020: “LaLnos Have Power and Most of Us Don’t Know It.”

2021: “Women, Can We Adjust the Blindspot in America?” A Verdadism Art ExhibiLon for

Women’s History Month.

PUBLISHING CREDITS FOR VERDADISM ART

• Dos Mundos Spanish Textbook. By Tracy D. Terrell/Magdalena Andrade/Jeanne

Egasse/Elias Miguel Munoz, McGraw-Hill Higher EducaLon.

• De una vez! A College Course for Spanish Speakers. By Fabian Samaniego/Francisco

Rodriguez/Nelson Rojas, Houghton Mifflin Company.

• The PrenLce Hall Anthology of LaLno Literature. By Eduardo del Rio.

• Leading ladies: mujeres en la literatura hispana y en las artes. By Yvonne

Fuentes/Margaret Parker, Louisiana State University.

• Social work with LaLnos: a cultural assets paradigm. By Melvin Delgado, Oxford University

Press.

• Puerto Ricans in the United States: a contemporary portrait. By Edna Acosta-Belén/Carlos

Enrique SanLago.

• Los usos de la imaginación. Poesía de los laLnos en EE.UU. By Lisa Rose Bradford/Fabián

Osvaldo Iriarte.

• Adiós, Borinquen querida: the Puerto Rican diaspora, its history, and contribuLons. By

Edna Acosta Belen.

• Harlem Travel Guide. By Carolyn Johnson.

• Soraida MarLnez: Abstract Expressionism, Verdadism. By Lambert M. Surhone, Mariam T.

Tennoe, Susan F. Henssonow.