Carissa Garcia

Carissa Garcia serves as the Director of Interpretation at The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum since February 2024. Previously, Garcia held the position of Cultural Strategist/Executive Director at Greñuda Productions and was instrumental in curating Jose Montoya’s Resonant Valley, a major retrospective in 2023. With a background in education and leadership, Garcia served as GenNow Director at Power California and as a lecturer at Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno, focusing on Chicano/Latino studies. Additional contributions include co-authoring a mural mapping photobook with the Fresno Arts Council and overseeing operations at Arte Americas as Interim Executive Director. Garcia's foundational experience includes co-founding an online magazine and assisting in Chicana/Chicano studies at UCLA, where a Master of Arts was attained.