about  the  artist

Isa Curran Estrada (she/they), 27, is a fine arts oil painter based in California and Minnesota. She is mixed Indigenous, Chicana, Irish and Scandinavian. Isa is an enrolled tribal member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians (Payómkawichum/Luiseño). Her work is heavily influenced by her heritage as well as her experiences of navigating the world as a queer person.

Isa’s works have been featured in a number of gallery exhibitions in both San Francisco and the Twin Cities. She has had the honor of being named a Culture Bearer Fellow with Native Youth Arts Collective through the McKnight Foundation and has also conducted numerous workshops in coordination with libraries and schools. Isa has worked extensively as a teaching artist for over a decade, including most recently with one of the most prominent community arts non-profits in the country, SCRAP based in San Francisco.

Isa graduated with an Associates Degree with a major in American Indian Studies from Saint Paul College in 2020. She is currently a Junior in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Minneapolis College of Art Design with a major in Drawing and Painting and minor in Art History and will be graduating in Spring 2026.