Cate Luna - About/CV

Short bio

My name is Cate Luna (she/they), I am currently building my art practice. I grew up in the Central Valley (in California), Minnesota (in a suburb of the twin cities), and in the Bay Area (the San Francisco one). I love photography and a few other forms of making. I am seeking to build my art practice in conjunction with connecting with nature and community. I love my girlfriend! I am very inspired by fantasy/escapism and the media I engage with. I am pursuing an MFA in photography at Massachusetts College of Art and Design starting in September, 2025.

Print washing, connected to garden hose in the backyard, December 2024

Altered negative

Artist Statement

My art practice is about seeking authenticity in its many forms. The emotional/theoretical focus of my work rests in investigating dichotomies and boundaries. I am very intrigued by the boundary between ghost and angel, nature and society, and between dream and reality. I use analog photographic processes as a way to create worlds adjacent to reality and use the lens to challenge hierarchical ways of seeing. I explore themes such as queer love, fantasy, death, time, grief, angels, and nature. The boundary between two ideas, the ironies of dichotomy, the mystery of time, our relationship with nature, queer love as resistance: these themes ground me and my work. Queer love and expression are often the basis for my work; I use them as a foundation to build up upon as they are foundational to my emotional and political worlds. Recently I have been seeking to create queer dreamscapes and express human creativity as a part of the natural world. My photos have been created with analog methods. I have sought to express both a connection with nature through my imagery and a longing for escape from the capitalocene through these analog processes.

CV

Education

MFA Photography, 2027, Massachusetts College of Art and Design

BA Environmental Studies, 2017–21, University of California Santa Cruz

Certificate of Achievement in Historical and Alternative Photographic Processes, January

2022–June 2024, Cabrillo College

Certificate of Achievement in Traditional Black and White Photography, January

2022–June 2024, Cabrillo College

Exhibitions

2024 Atlanta Photography Group, Film is Not Dead, Atlanta, GA, February 6 – March 9, 2024

2023 Monterey Museum of Art, Weston Collective Scholarship Exhibition, Monterey, CA, May – August 2023

2023 ART•SEE Exhibition, SAC West Cabrillo College, Spring 2023 – Spring 2024 2023 Cabrillo Gallery, Student Art Exhibition, March – April 2024

2023 Cabrillo Gallery, Annual Student Exhibition, Aptos, CA, May–June 2023

2023 Cabrillo Gallery, The Empathy Project: Art, Community, & Collaboration, Aptos, CA, March – April 2023

Awards

2023 Weston Collective Scholarship Award, First Place, Roman Loranc Fine Art Category

2024 Cabrillo College Howard Ikemoto Endowed Scholarship Award

Publication

2023 JournalX, Cabrillo College Publication

2023 PorterGulch Review, Cabrillo College Literary Journal

Curatorial

2023 ART•SEE Exhibitions, Federally funded grant project, Cabrillo College Spring 2023 – Spring 2024

Work Experience

Mendocino College; Administrative Assistant, 2025

Administrative assistant for the IT department at Mendocino College. Coordinates all purchasing for the department. Assists students as a part of the IT Help Desk.

UC Santa Cruz; Urban Gardens Programs Coordinator, 2023–2024

Coordinated the pilot program "Seed Spoon Science" at UC Santa Cruz as a part of professional staff. Cultivated and maintained the demonstration garden Tierra Viva on campus. Hosted community garden workdays and facilitated team meetings. Provided guidance to and supported undergraduate student staff. Coordinated community events and works with multiple departments to accomplish goals. Assisted with grant writing and project proposals, and partnered closely with program director to meet grant deliverables.

Cabrillo College; ART•SEE/ART•VER Student Exhibitions Curator, 2023–2024

Organized two year-long exhibitions on campus. Created an online database of student artwork. Outreach to various departments on campus for exhibition site selection. Selected sites for exhibition and organized exhibition openings. Collaborated with faculty to curate and install cohesive exhibitions.

Sones Cellars; Tasting Room Associate, 2021–2023

Organized many different tasks in a fast-paced environment and a customer-facing role. Provided recommendations and answers to customer questions about wine. Stocked wines, washed glassware, collected payment using square, organized wine club data and information, kept the tasting room clean and inviting. Assisted with some winemaking tasks such as crushing and bottling. Managed all tasting room activities.

Bay Photo Lab; Lab Technician/Retail Stores Associate, 2023

Developed and scanned film using C-41 processing machines. Scanned and retouched old photographs and slides using photoshop. Attended to the many needs of customers.

Newt Gardens; Ecological Landscape Gardener, 2022

Worked in landscaping maintenance and installation. Used woodworking skills to construct raised beds. Executed general maintenance tasks such as leaf blowing, weed whacking, pruning, path/hardscape installation. Worked to remove invasive species from yards and restore native ecosystems. Purchased California native plants for installation. Worked with clients to ensure that their vision for their yard was achieved.

UC Santa Cruz; Summer Programs Assistant, 2020–2021

Acted as project lead for UCSC Summer Edge programming. Prioritized the well-being of incoming students from diverse backgrounds by providing equitable and effective help and service; created a welcoming environment and provided tangible resources for student success. Worked with the Summer Programs Coordinator to develop and implement an effective training program for Summer Edge Peer Mentors that focused on equity, safety considerations, and inclusion. Mentored student employees. General office/administrative tasks such as scheduling, filing, data management, and preparing communications. Facilitated community events and workshops that required clear and friendly communication skills and coordination with multiple university departments.

UC Santa Cruz; Kresge Garden Internship & Community Outreach Coordinator, 2018–2021

Coordinated and maintained all horticultural care of Kresge Garden. Secured funding for garden supplies, activities, and student wages through yearly grant applications. Responsible for grant writing, budget tracking, and grant reporting. Organized events and community outreach. Created and taught internship curriculum to garden interns with non-hierarchical teaching methods. Worked on garden building and construction. Participated in frequent communication with multiple departments throughout the university. Coordinated purchasing through purchase orders. Managed the composting system for Kresge College.

UC Santa Cruz Summer Edge Lead Peer Mentor, 2018–2020

Organizing Summer Edge programming for incoming students. Created a welcoming environment by providing help and service to incoming students in a mentorship role. Hosted educational and community-building events tailored for incoming students.