Ambar Santiago: Neon Forests, Diaspora, and Building the Gallery She Needed

On a quiet afternoon inside Mills Gallery, Ambar Santiago stands among the work of other artists while carrying the weight and brightness of her own. Painter, illustrator, operations administrator, and emerging curator, she is one of the most dynamic young forces in Orlando’s contemporary art scene. Born in Puerto Rico to a family of Guatemalan roots and raised in the United States, her practice explores cultural identity, diaspora, and the longing for belonging with unusual honesty and visual power.

A 2025 graduate of the University of Central Florida with a BFA in Fine Arts and a minor in Art History, Ambar creates vivid, highly stylized botanical paintings—dense, overgrown plants and palm trees rendered in fluorescent neon colors that feel almost otherworldly. “Painting with fluorescence in particular, which is neon paint, I think it brings out a certain quality of my paintings that… describe how far away I feel from the reality of not living in Guatemala,” she explains. “I feel very disconnected, almost to a point where it’s imaginative. It’s a fictional reality that I create within my paintings of these forests that are neon and bright and so vivid, almost alien in a dream-like world. And that’s how I tend to feel about how disconnected I am from my Guatemalan roots.”

That disconnection was not abstract. For years, particular family traumas kept her from exploring that side of her heritage. “I grew up here. I was born in Puerto Rico. So I do feel disconnect from Puerto Rico as well… Recently I’ve discovered that side of Guatemala that I really enjoy because I’ve been going visiting those family members that I’ve never met in my entire life, and learning more about the culture and the reality of what things are over there, because it is not as nice and pretty as my paintings make them out to be.”

This tension sits at the center of her upcoming solo exhibition, Guatemala, My Place of Trees, opening September 17, 2026, in the side gallery upstairs at CityArts. “Part of my body of work that is going to be featured… will include works that are not only those botanicals, the plants and the forests, but also how I feel so out of touch with Guatemala and those family members and those roots. So it’ll be a little bit more than just plants.” The show will also feature clay animal-hybrid masks connected to Guatemalan spiritual traditions—masks that “are supposed to offer guidance”—along with the symbolism of snakes, birds, and bats that bridge ancient and contemporary realities.

Learning the Business of Art at Mills Gallery

Ambar stepped into her dual role as operations administrator and curator at Mills Gallery in March 2026, beginning with the dual exhibition Opposites Attract featuring two women artists. Under the guidance of founder Boris Garbe and executive director Juan Pablo Santa Luna, she has absorbed lessons that art school never taught: how the local scene actually works, how to present oneself, how to write a press release, how to make appointments, and how to speak about artwork without losing the audience in “art talk.”

“There’s a certain bubble that we were kept in… I did not ask the right questions when I was in school… Who is involved? Who do I need to know in the Orlando art scene?” Working side-by-side with emerging artists in the Win Win program has been especially formative. “We are teaching them, training them how to talk about their work, how to talk about themselves… People want to feel connected to the artist. And that is something really important.”

She balances three jobs—gallery work, her own studio practice, and serving on weekends—and uses that experience to mentor others on the difficult reality of sustaining a creative life.

A Gallery of Her Own

Ambar’s long-term goal is to open her own gallery focused on mentorship and underrepresented voices, particularly women and Hispanic artists. “I want to feature underrepresented artists, artists that need training, that need guidance, like, I want to be there for them because they’re the ones that need it the most. No other gallery will… come in and help you out and teach you how to speak, how to put together a press release. No other gallery will do that here in Orlando. Here we… mentor you, we guide you, we accept you with open arms. And it’s really interesting to see how they turn out in the end.”

In a moment when artificial intelligence raises questions about authorship, she insists on a human-centered approach: “The artist informs the art and vice versa. So it’s not something you can detach from… I think it’s really important that we focus on the artist.”

//Latin Pro//

Recently recognized as a Women of Impact in the Arts – Emerging Star by NOSOTRAS LATINAS Magazine (her first formal award), Ambar describes the experience as deeply affirming after years of feeling somewhat outside the broader Latino community.

Invitation
Guatemala, My Place of Trees opens September 17, 2026, at CityArts. Admission is free. Ambar will be there. Mills Gallery exhibitions are always free—come, have some wine, enjoy the art, and create conversations.

Interview by Felipe Robayo at Mills Gallery for América Magazine, in partnership with Mills Gallery.

Ambar Santiago: Bosques de neón, diáspora y la construcción de la galería que necesitaba

En una tarde tranquila dentro de Mills Gallery, Ambar Santiago se mueve entre las obras de otros artistas mientras carga el peso y el brillo de las suyas. Pintora, ilustradora, administradora de operaciones y curadora emergente, es una de las fuerzas más dinámicas de la escena artística contemporánea de Orlando. Nacida en Puerto Rico en una familia de raíces guatemaltecas y criada en Estados Unidos, su práctica explora la identidad cultural, la diáspora y el anhelo de pertenencia con una honestidad y poder visual poco comunes.

Graduada en 2025 de la University of Central Florida con un BFA en Bellas Artes y minor en Historia del Arte, Ambar crea pinturas botánicas vívidas y altamente estilizadas: plantas densas y desbordadas, palmeras renderizadas en colores fluorescentes y neón que parecen de otro mundo. “Painting with fluorescence in particular, which is neon paint, I think it brings out a certain quality of my paintings that… describe how far away I feel from the reality of not living in Guatemala,” explica. “I feel very disconnected, almost to a point where it’s imaginative. It’s a fictional reality that I create within my paintings of these forests that are neon and bright and so vivid, almost alien in a dream-like world. And that’s how I tend to feel about how disconnected I am from my Guatemalan roots.”

Esa desconexión no era abstracta. Durante años, traumas familiares particulares le impidieron explorar ese lado de su herencia. “I grew up here. I was born in Puerto Rico. So I do feel disconnect from Puerto Rico as well… Recently I’ve discovered that side of Guatemala that I really enjoy because I’ve been going visiting those family members that I’ve never met in my entire life, and learning more about the culture and the reality of what things are over there, because it is not as nice and pretty as my paintings make them out to be.”

Esta tensión está en el centro de su próxima exposición individual, Guatemala, My Place of Trees, que abre el 17 de septiembre de 2026 en la galería lateral del piso superior de CityArts. “Part of my body of work that is going to be featured… will include works that are not only those botanicals, the plants and the forests, but also how I feel so out of touch with Guatemala and those family members and those roots. So it’ll be a little bit more than just plants.” La muestra incluirá también máscaras de arcilla de híbridos animales inspiradas en tradiciones espirituales guatemaltecas —máscaras que “are supposed to offer guidance”— junto al simbolismo de serpientes, aves y murciélagos que conectan lo ancestral con lo contemporáneo.

Aprendiendo el negocio del arte en Mills Gallery

Ambar asumió su doble rol como administradora de operaciones y curadora en Mills Gallery en marzo de 2026, comenzando con la exposición dual Opposites Attract de dos artistas mujeres. Bajo la guía del fundador Boris Garbe y del director ejecutivo Juan Pablo Santa Luna, ha absorbido lecciones que la escuela de arte nunca enseñó: cómo funciona realmente la escena local, cómo presentarse, cómo escribir un press release, cómo programar citas y cómo hablar de la obra sin perder al público en el “art talk”.

“There’s a certain bubble that we were kept in… I did not ask the right questions when I was in school… Who is involved? Who do I need to know in the Orlando art scene?” Trabajar lado a lado con artistas emergentes en el programa Win Win ha sido especialmente formativo. “We are teaching them, training them how to talk about their work, how to talk about themselves… People want to feel connected to the artist. And that is something really important.”

Equilibra tres trabajos —la galería, su práctica de estudio y servir los fines de semana— y usa esa experiencia para orientar a otros sobre la difícil realidad de sostener una vida creativa.

Una galería propia

El objetivo a largo plazo de Ambar es abrir su propia galería centrada en la mentoría y las voces subrepresentadas, especialmente de mujeres y artistas hispanos. “I want to feature underrepresented artists, artists that need training, that need guidance, like, I want to be there for them because they’re the ones that need it the most. No other gallery will… come in and help you out and teach you how to speak, how to put together a press release. No other gallery will do that here in Orlando. Here we… mentor you, we guide you, we accept you with open arms. And it’s really interesting to see how they turn out in the end.”

En un momento en que la inteligencia artificial plantea preguntas sobre la autoría, insiste en un enfoque centrado en lo humano: “The artist informs the art and vice versa. So it’s not something you can detach from… I think it’s really important that we focus on the artist.”

Recientemente reconocida como Women of Impact in the Arts – Emerging Star por NOSOTRAS LATINAS Magazine (su primer premio formal), Ambar describe la experiencia como profundamente afirmativa después de años de sentirse algo fuera de la comunidad latina más amplia.

Invitación
Guatemala, My Place of Trees abre el 17 de septiembre de 2026 en CityArts. Entrada gratuita. Ambar estará allí. Las exposiciones de Mills Gallery siempre son gratuitas: vengan, tomen una copa de vino, disfruten el arte y creen conversaciones.

Entrevista de Felipe Robayo en Mills Gallery para América Magazine, en consorcio con Mills Gallery.