Fredo Rivera

Art and architectural historian Fredo Rivera ‘06 is Assistant Professor of Art History at Grinnell College, where they teach classes on modern and contemporary architecture and urban visual culture, as well as the art of the Americas, with a focus on the Caribbean. Professor Rivera’s research current research focuses on art, visual culture and the built environment in Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Florida, as well as queer expression amongst the Caribbean diasporas and across the archipelago.

Rivera is currently working on multiple writing and creative projects, including a manuscript based on their dissertation regarding art, visual media and architecture in 1960s Cuba. Rivera is also the co-leader of the Haitian Arts Digital Crossroads project, which aims to create a digital database and expand resources for Haitian art. Rivera was a 2021 Career Enhancement Fellow with the Institute for Scholars and Citizens, and previously held fellowships with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) and the  Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Professor Rivera has worked on a number of exhibition projects, including: The Elusive Master: Emmanuel Merisier, from Haiti to beyond (Little Haiti Cultural Complex), Edouard Duval-Carrié: Metamorphosis (Museum of Contemporary Art-North Miami), From Within and Without: The History of Haitian Photography (NSU Art Museum-Ft. Lauderdale), Nation on the Move – the Puerto Rican Diaspora: Photographs by Frank Espada (Duke University Libraries), and Building Broward: A Guide to a Century of Architecture (Florida Atlantic University & Broward Cultural Division). They also perform in drag as Lolita Cabrón, and Prof. Rivera has curated two major queer art happenings: Yo Soy La Mala: drag en el exilio (March-April 2017, Centro Cultural Español-Miami) and Tidal Rage: drag en la frontera (November 2018, Pérez Art Museum Miami with Creative Time). Currently, they are working on a project exploring the relation of decolonial aesthetics and drag performance as it relates to the politics and culture of Puerto Rico.

In addition to their Ph.D., Rivera has a Graduate Certificate in Latin American & Caribbean Studies from Duke University (2015), a Masters of Art in Art History from Duke University (2010), and a Bachelor of Arts (Africana Studies and Art History, with honors) from Grinnell College (2006).