Baker Artist Portfolios

Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown (she/they)
Panamanian-American, b. 1981, Baltimore-born, NYC-raised

Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, curandera chamána (shamanic practitioner), and wellness educator whose studio practice bridges contemporary art, sensory experiences, ancestral rituals, and embodied storytelling. Drawing upon her Panamanian heritage and lineage of healers, de la Brown creates immersive performances, sculptural installations, and video artworks that render spaces safe—inviting audiences into environments that foster playful exploration, healing, and authentic self-expression while honoring ancestry and belonging.

Through ritual, movement, and sculptural-object fabrication, her work transforms public spaces into portals for reflection and connection. De la Brown’s practice celebrates being unapologetically self—centering tenderness, sensory awareness, and embodied memory as sources of wisdom and empowerment.

Her performances and installations have been presented by The Phillips Collection, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Smithsonian, The Walters Art Museum, The National Aquarium, The Tribeca Film Festival, and the George Peabody Library. Her artwork is held in public and private collections including The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, The National Aquarium, and the GLB Memorial Foundation Collection.

A passionate voice and thought leader in both the arts and wellness communities, de la Brown has shared her practice at Brown University, Johns Hopkins University, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Kennedy Center, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum, leading workshops and talks on art, ritual, and holistic creative practice.

She is Artist-in-Residence at the Creative Alliance and Baltimore School for the Arts, a 2026 Marble House Project Resident Artist, 2025 Vermont Studio Center Marshall Frankel Fellow, MacDowell Fellow, and 2024 KODA Artist-in-Residence at Governors Island. Past honors include the MAP Fund Grant, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Ruby Artist Grant, LTYC Community Artist Award, and a feature in Vogue.

de la Brown is a former sculpture professor at Towson University and adjunct faculty in the MFA in Community Arts program at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Her lifelong practice integrates visual art, performance, and ancestral rituals—centering the body as archive and creation itself as sacred medicine.