Nitza Tufiño

Printshop Director

Nitza Tufiño (b. 1949, Mexico City) is a recognized muralist, public artist, printmaker, and painter based in New York City, and a resident of South Orange, New Jersey. Raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she brings a transnational perspective to her work rooted in Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and urban cultural histories.

She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Academia de San Carlos, Universidad Autónoma de México, and holds a Master of Science in Urban Affairs from Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY), where she received a HUD Scholarship and was designated an Urban Affairs HUD Fellow.

As a community activist and art educator, Tufiño has played a foundational role in the development of major community-based arts organizations and institutions in New York City. She has been instrumental in the growth of Loisaida, Inc., Taller Boricua, El Museo del Barrio, Friends of Puerto Rico (d/b/a Cayman Gallery), and the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MOCHA). She was instrumental in saving MOCHA’s permanent collection, which is now housed at CUNY–Hostos Community College.

She has served as a consultant on Puerto Rican and Caribbean Art for both the Brooklyn Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a public artist and muralist, she has received commissions from numerous institutions, including the East 3rd Street Music School (Manhattan), New York City Board of Education, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, LaGuardia Community College, Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut), and the Hospital for Special Care. She also established the Muralism Program at Central Connecticut State University.

Tufiño holds the distinction of being the first artist/muralist of color to receive two commissions from the MTA, for the #1 train station at West 86th Street and the #6 train station at East 103rd Street, helping to pave the way for future artists and muralists of color in public transit art programs.

Her numerous awards and recognitions include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Donald G. Sullivan Award and the Hans Spiegel Award for Urban Affairs from Hunter College; the Mid-Atlantic Endowment for the Arts Regional Award from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation; a New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship; and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Award, presented in collaboration with New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

Additional honors include the New York City Council “Excellence in Arts” Award presented by Council President Andrew Stein; the Manhattan Borough President’s Excellence and Outstanding Achievement Award from Ruth Messinger; a Proclamation from the New York City Council and Council Member Rosie Mendez for Outstanding Public Artist; and recognition as an Outstanding Artist by the State of New York and Governor Andrew Cuomo in celebration of Puerto Rican Heritage Month, in collaboration with Comité Noviembre. She also received the Outstanding Leadership in the Art Community Award from the Hispanic 100 Men organization and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2025) from the National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP), and most recently was one of the artists awarded the 2025 Latinx Artist Fellowship by USLAF (US Latinx Art Forum).

Nitza Tufiño joined Taller Boricua in its earliest years and currently serves as the Director of the Rafael Tufiño Printmaking Workshop (RTPW) at Taller Boricua.