Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1987.

Annie Y. Saldaña Matías is an artist, mother, arts administrator, and educator from Puerto Rico. She currently manages the Creative Community Development Center (CEDE) at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. This unique department co-creates experiences that support creative careers through innovative capacity-development programming, mentorship, peer-to-peer learning, and oversees the museum’s artist residency program. She has participated in multiple professional development programs such as the National Leaders of Color Fellowship 2022-23, Museum’s Association Mentoring for All program, AS220’s Practice//Practice, NALAC’s Leadership Institute, Fabricas Culturales and more. Saldaña holds a bachelor’s in graphics arts from the University of Puerto Rico in Carolina and a master’s in fine arts with a concentration in Photography from Miami International University of Art and Design.

In 2012 she was responsible for converting an under-used university lobby into a formal gallery, Vargas Gallery, thus marking her beginning as arts administrator and curator. There she curated and coordinated nineteen exhibitions and its programming over the course of two years. Upon returning to her native Puerto Rico, she founded Prisma Art Projects in 2015, an artist-run organization focused on supporting contemporary emerging artists through curated exhibitions and events. Since 2016 she served as education program coordinator at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico until recently being appointed the task to develop CEDE. Her work in arts education and management focuses on equity for all creatives, envisioning the professional development of emerging and established artists to achieve their highest creative and economic potential. 

As an artist, Saldaña has participated in exhibitions in Puerto Rico, United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, and Germany, including her latest solo show at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Chicago and collective exhibitions such as Bienal SalaFAR at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Bienal de Fotografía at Museo de Las Americas in San Juan, Miami Independent Thinkers in Miami and PINTA Art Fair in London.