Founded in 2019, Daphne Art Foundation (Daphne) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and promote the creation, presentation, study, and appreciation of the visual and performing arts in the border community of Laredo, Texas.

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By collaborating with regional, national, and international artists and organizations, we seek to educate and deepen the public’s knowledge, expand its awareness, and inspire creativity—all with the conviction that participation in artistic expression is essential to cross-cultural understanding.

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For the past few years, we have been fulfilling our mission through our first initiative, Cultivarte Laredo. With this program, we are cultivating a supportive culture of artists by providing space for art programs that stimulate cross-cultural transformations on both sides of the border. Today, we are expanding to deliver community outreach, a mural arts festival, and other public arts programs that would benefit the entire community.

Our Team

Maritza Bautista, Executive Director

Maritza is an artist, educator, and cultural worker with over 15 years experience. She holds a Masters in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2009) and a Bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from TAMIU (2002). Maritza joined Cultivarte in 2020 but has worked in the art nonprofit industry since 2003; working closely with diverse artists and art spaces including Laredo Center for the Arts, Sound Art Space, Hecho en Encinal, Insight Arts, The Art Institute of Chicago, Rumble Arts Center, and Threewalls.

Maritza was awarded the SAIC Masters Fellowship in Art Education (2009), and her essay "Unique Voices in Youth Media" was published in the book "Art and Social Justice Education: Culture as Commons" (2012). Her video work has been screened at various festivals, including Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (2015), the San Antonio Film Festival (2019), and the MIRAAA Media Fest (2021). She has also presented and screened her work at various programs throughout Texas, in Chicago and Pittsburgh, and in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Most recently, Maritza’s work was featured on Passage (2022), in the exhibition The Border is a Weapon (2022), the Creating Justice Symposium (2022), and the International Association of Inter-American Studies Sixth Biennial Conference Walls, Bridges, Borders (2021).