West Chapter ConferenceSpeakers

Jennifer Frias

Friday, November 07, 2025 @ 4:00pm,

Where Images Live: Photography, Place, and the Power of Presence

JENNIFER FRIAS is visual arts curator and educator whose multidisciplinary experience spans curatorial practice, museum education, community engagement, and collections management. She currently serves as Director/Curator of the College of the Arts Galleries at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

Prior to her role at CSUF, Frias was Director of Education and Academic Programs at UCR ARTS / California Museum of Photography, where she co-founded OFF THE BLOCK, an award-winning summer intensive for high school filmmakers. Films from the program have been recognized by PBS SoCal, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Sundance. She previously held curatorial positions at UCR's Sweeney Art Gallery and Culver Center of the Arts, and worked in the art collections at The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Her curatorial projects focus on artists practices and processes, marginalized narratives, and the intersections of art and technology, often bridging contemporary visual culture with classroom curriculum and broader community engagement.

Notable exhibitions include Soo Kim (Charlie sings in the quietest voice) (2025), Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020 (2021), William Camargo: Origins and Displacements, Volumes 1 & 2 (2020), Xavier Cázares Cortéz: FINGERS ARE CROSSED, just in case (2018), Random Acts of Content (2018), Second Wave: Aesthetics of the '80s in Today's Contemporary Art (2015), Jesper Just: Sirens of Chrome (2013), and Hiromi Takizawa: Ultraviolet (2012).