In the five years since immigrating to the United States from Venezuela with her husband, Orlando-based visual artist Gisela Romero’s works have centered around her newfound community.
Her latest exhibition, WE, will be featured at the Orange County Administration Center as part of the Art in the Chambers exhibition program. The opening reception happens Monday night, Sept. 29, at 5 p.m.; the work is on display from Friday, Sept. 25, through Jan. 27, 2026. The Terrace Gallery is open Monday-Friday during business hours.
Romero was provided studio space in downtown Orlando in 2024 by the United Art Center of Florida. With a large window in her studio overlooking Orange Avenue, Romero had a front-row seat to the faces that make up one of the busiest spots in town.
“I was looking at people because I would be there from early morning, and I started to see many diverse people. I mean, it’s amazing how Orlando is a palace where so many different people live, from homeless to CEOs to tourists, people who get lost looking for City Hall for their appointment,” Romero tells Orlando Weekly.
Her daily routine of people-watching was briefly interrupted when a man approached her through the window.
“One day, this guy came and told me he was a homeless person,” says Romero. “He asked me, ‘Why don’t you make a drawing of me?’ And this is when I started making sketches of people that I was seeing from the window. When I received an invitation from the Chamber with an offer for a solo show, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to develop this project.”
WE is a collection of Romero’s works that draws connections between images of individuals and words. The exhibition is an invitation for people to see or read stories that are close to them.
“I think if I did what I really wanted to do with it, people will feel connected with the exhibition. I hope they can stop and think about the importance of community and the importance of talking and listening to each other,” Romero says.
Two of Romero’s main avenues of expression are drawing and communicating through mixed media. Her last solo exhibition, A Constant Goodbye — The Table Runner’s Stories of Gisela Romero, explored her interest in immigration and the consequences of uprooting families using table runners as a canvas. While her works are always illustration-based, Romero often incorporates threads, ribbons and acrylics.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, Romero originally attended a graphic design institution due to the city’s lack of schooling for the visual arts. She later received a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from California College of Arts and a master’s in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, working as an illustrator in between.
“I’m very happy to have the opportunity to have my exhibition in a space that welcomes community, unlike my home country, where public institutions don’t allow people to be there, debate or talk to each other,” says Romero.
From the perspective of her lived experience, Romero believes that it is vital to the community that all individuals play their part in supporting it, and not just those in positions of power.
“To have this place to be able to go and talk to community leaders and tell them how you feel or what you need is a luxury. Some places don’t even have this luxury, and you can’t take that for granted,” Romero says.
WE runs through Jan. 27, 2026. And as this issue was going to press, the Orlando Museum of Art announced that Romero will have a sculpture piece exhibited in the museum for Hispanic Heritage Month. We recommend you check both of these exhibitions off your aesthetic to-do list.
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This article appears in Sept. 24-30, 2025.
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