Marissa Del Toro

Marissa Del Toro is a curator and art historian of the modern and contemporary art of Latin American, Latinx, and U.S. artists. Her practice is an exploration of the histories and realities of colonialism, as well as the ideologies of normative and oppressive power structures. At the core of her work is the recognition of the need to promote—and advocate for—a range of diverse narratives in the arts. Since 2021, Del Toro has worked at Museums Moving Forward, a data-driven initiative committed to supporting greater equity and accountability in art museum workplaces. She is currently the Assistant Director of Programs and Exhibitions at NXTHVN, where she recently curated THIS IS NOT A RETREAT: NXTHVN Through the Year (2025) at the Ford Foundation Gallery. 

As an independent curator, Del Toro has guest-curated and written for a range of arts and cultural organizations, including the Latinx Project at New York University; Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY; and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CA. For the American Federation of Arts, she also co-curated the traveling exhibition Xican-a.o.x.Body (2023–2025) with Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Gilbert Vicario. Over the course of her career, Marissa has held positions, including curatorial internships and fellowships at NXTHVN, Phoenix Art Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Getty Research Institute, and the Smithsonian Latino Center. Originally from Southern California, Marissa holds an MA in art history from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a BA in art history from the University of California, Riverside.

Image Credit: Photo courtesy of John Dennis.