Victoria Mara Heilweil is a lens-based artist, curator and educator. A detective in the urban environment, Victoria uses photography to transform ubiquitous, mundane subjects that are often overlooked into beautiful images. In a society obsessed with wealth and fame, embracing the ordinary is a political act. Her artwork has been exhibited nationally, including the de Young Museum, San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, University Art Gallery at California State Chico, and the Minneapolis Photo Center. She has also created public and community based art works in conjunction with the ZERO1 Biennial, Pro Arts Gallery, CA and the Bayview Opera House. Her photographs are included in collections at Cornell University, Center for Photography at Woodstock and CMPC/Sutter Health Van Ness Hospital in San Francisco.
In addition to her art practice, Victoria is an independent curator who has mounted exhibitions at Root Division, PHOTO Gallery and Art Works Downtown. She was also a founding member of MicroClimate Collective, an artist created curatorial project, which produced twelve exhibitions over eight years. Victoria was awarded a grant from the Puffin Foundation and with MicroClimate Collective, an Alternative Exposure Grant. She received her Masters of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts in 1995.