Denise Zubizarreta
Denise Zubizarreta (also known by her artist name The Vamp DeVille) is a Puerto Rican and Cuban-American artist, writer, cultural strategist, and nonprofit leader. She serves as the Director of Development and Communications for the New Mexico Local News Fund (NMLNF) and holds a leadership role at Latina Media Co. Her work focuses on equitable media ecosystems, social justice in the arts, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Zubizarreta is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Social Justice.[1]
Early Life and Education
Denise Zubizarreta was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, just outside of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, to a Cuban father serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and a Puerto Rican mother. She was raised in Union City, New Jersey, a community with a strong immigrant presence, before moving to Florida, where she attended high school in Miami Springs.[2]
Zubizarreta is of mixed Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, and her upbringing across different regions of the United States strongly shaped her perspectives on culture, identity, and belonging.[3]
She went on to pursue higher education in the arts and cultural management:
- She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver, Colorado.[4]
- She holds a Master of Arts in Arts Leadership and Cultural Management (MALCM) from Colorado State University.[5]
- She is currently a PhD candidate in Applied Social Justice at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.[6]
Career
Zubizarreta is the Director of Development and Communications at the New Mexico Local News Fund, where she works to strengthen the state’s local news ecosystem, support journalists and news organizations, and expand access to trusted, community-centered reporting.[7] She also serves as Engagement and Development Director at Latina Media Co., a national platform dedicated to amplifying Latiné voices in journalism and cultural criticism.[8] In this role, she contributes cultural commentary as a Rotten Tomatoes–approved critic, writing about film, television, and media representation from a Latina perspective.[9] She was notably critical of the Netflix series Neon in a review for Hyperallergic, where she analyzed the show’s cultural framing and lack of Puerto Rican producers.[10]
Alongside her nonprofit and media leadership roles, Zubizarreta maintains an artistic practice under the name The Vamp DeVille.[11] As an interdisciplinary artist, her creative work engages themes of colonialism, identity, ancestral connection, and social justice. She combines visual art, performance, and cultural advocacy with writing and arts leadership, positioning her work at the intersection of community engagement and critical storytelling.
Approach and Themes
Denise Zubizarreta’s artistic and critical work is deeply rooted in exploring intersectional identity—especially the ways colonial histories, migration, and cultural memory shape how people understand themselves and relate to place. Her art practice (under the name The Vamp DeVille) often addresses how Indigenous, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx legacies exist simultaneously with ongoing colonial structures. She uses visual metaphor and layered aesthetics to interrogate what gets erased, what gets preserved, and how power operates in daily life.[12]
Her shows frequently combine archival materials, multimedia installations, and participatory elements in order to invoke ancestral connection, resilience, and reclamation. Rather than merely representing cultural identity, her work invites audiences to engage with place and history: to question whose stories have been excluded and what truths are waiting to be uncovered.[13]
Zubizarreta’s criticism similarly aligns with her artistic themes. She foregrounds cultural analysis that recognizes not just representation, but power—whose lens is telling the story, what framing is used, and how media forms implicate issues of race, language justice, and visibility. Her reviews and essays are informed by her dual role as artist and cultural strategist, bringing both creative sensibility and equity awareness to her critique of media, particularly around Latiné representation.[2]
Personal Life
- Zubizarreta identifies as neurodivergent.[14]
- She goes by the artistic name The Vamp DeVille.[1]
- She served in the U.S. Navy.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "BIO". The Vamp DeVille. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hayes, Khaleel. "Denise "The Vamp DeVille" Zubizarreta's Art Rises From the Ashes". Westword. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Denise Zubizarreta". CentroPR. 2024-07-31. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ tonigonzales (2025-07-11). "Member Denise Zubizarreta". LEJA The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ Etter, Beth (12 May 2025). "Celebrating our Spring 2025 Outstanding Grads". Colorado State University. Retrieved 9 Sep 2025.
- ↑ "Denise Zubizarreta, Author at LatinaMedia.Co". LatinaMedia.Co. 2025-08-20. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Team | Support Local Journalism Today". New Mexico Local News Fund. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "About Latina Media Co". LatinaMedia.Co. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Denise Zubizarreta Movie Reviews & Previews | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ Zubizarreta, Denise (2023-02-12). "Netflix Forgot to Include Puerto Ricans in Production of Reggaeton Show". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Contemporary Artist | The Vamp DeVille | New Mexico". The Vamp DeVille. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Memory and faith collide in "Descansa en el Poder" at Denver gallery". The Denver Post. 2024-11-04. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ "Cultivating Critical Conversations in Art Education 9780807768983 | Teachers College Press". www.tcpress.com. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
- ↑ "Denise Zubizarreta". Medium. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ↑ Khundmiri, Zaylah Pearson-Good (2022-10-04). "Reclaiming Caribbean Culture through Visual Art, Research, and Writings". East Side Art Institute. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
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