Mélida Buentello-Olivo is an art historian who teaches Art History and Museum Studies at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Her courses include Masterworks of Art, Art History II: From Renaissance to Modern, The Art of Mexico, Women in Art History and Museum Studies.
She holds a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from Harvard University.
Her research interests include Mexican iconography, muralism, gender and representation and material culture. She is particularly interested in the physical properties and architectural integration of materials such as stone mosaic in monumental mural production, as well as in garments such as the china poblana, which function as markers of identity, gender and social class in Mexican art and cultural traditions.
In addition to her teaching, Buentello-Olivo serves as Coordinator of the Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project (MMARP) at Harvard University, where she oversees archival organization, digital initiatives and research programming related to the study of Mesoamerican cultures. She has also worked with the archives at the Harvard Art Museums and has curated exhibitions at the University of the Incarnate Word.
B.A. Studio Arts, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1997
M.A., Art History, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2007
M.L.A. (ALM) in Extension Studies, Museum Studies, Harvard University, 2025
2022-Present: Lecturer in Art History, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas (online course)
2006-2012: Adjunct Faculty Professor of Art History, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas
2025-Present: Coordinator — Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project (MMARP), Harvard University
2024-2025: Archives Assistant — Student Employment, Harvard Art Museums
2006: Assistant Curator, Instituto Cultural Mexicano
2006: Museum Registrar, The Alameda Museum in affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution
2006: Latin American Art Curatorial Intern, San Antonio Museum of Art
2000-2001: Education Intern, The McNay Art Museum
2023: Posada, Mexican Identity, and the Game of Lotería, Academia.edu
March-April 2012: The Gaia Factory Exhibition
June-August 2010: Contra Corriente: Mexicanas in the USA Exhibition
November 2008: “Chocolate at the San Antonio Museum of Art,” Glasstire Texas Visual Art Online
Magazine
February 2005: Guest Lecturer, “Mexican Muralists,” The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
September 1998: Chromaform: Color In Sculpture, “Thomas Glassford,” University of Texas at San
Antonio
2002: Mitchell A. Wilder Award, Texas Association of Museums
1997: President’s List, TAMU-Corpus Christi
1997: USAA All-American Scholar Collegiate Award
Fall 1996/1997: Dean’s List, TAMU-CC
1996-1997: Dougherty-Carr Foundation for the Arts Scholarship, TAMU-Corpus Christi
Fall 1995/Spring 1996: Dean’s List, University of Texas at Brownsville
1992: Scholastic Art Awards, Honorable Mention, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
2023: Certificate in Museum Studies, Harvard University, Extension School
2006: Managing Art, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) / Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas
2005: Museography, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) / Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas