Photo by Ashley Wang

Heidi Grace Acuña (HGA/they/she) is an artist who “creates to live”. Born in Federal Way, Washington to immigrant Filipino parents, and raised on O‘ahu since one year old, Heidi felt disconnected to a true sense of home and belonging. Now, Heidi makes art that finds the beauty in the multiplicities of identity, culture, gender, and home. Her work is rooted in connecting back to their ancestral homeland and cultural beliefs of the Philippines through endemic creatures, and reclaiming her lineage through time, migration, and spirituality. HGA’s interdisciplinary work in ceramic sculpture, fashion design, installation, and performance aims to create a legacy for our descendants where they may thrive beyond borders of identity, place, or possibility.

HGA has exhibited in Seattle, New York, Hawaiʻi, Philadelphia, and Bellingham. She has been awarded the 4Culture Heritage Grant, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Artists at the Center Grant, Collective Power Fund, 4Culture Cultural Relief Grant, Gallery 110 Emerging Artist, and the Edwin T. Pratt Scholarship. Heidi is a founding member of the QT arts collective House of Kilig. They are a published artist whose work is part of the North Seattle College Art Collection. As a teaching artist she has worked with The Feels Foundation, The Bellevue Arts Museum, Tacoma Sunday Market, and Gage Academy.

Heidi is currently working on their second interdisciplinary fashion-based show, "Buwaya Baby". Come experience this free, all-ages show at King Street Station on October 1st!

Solo Exhibitions & Activations

  • 2026 - (Upcoming) One World, Seattle Exhibition Hal, Seattle, WA

  • 2026 - (Upcoming) Buwaya Baby, ARTS at King Street Station Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2025 - Living Waling Waling!, Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre, Seattle, WA

  • 2022 - LUSH, Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham, WA

Grants, Awards, & Residencies

  • 2026 - (Upcoming) Artist in Residence, ARTS at King Street Station, Seattle, WA

  • 2026 - We Still Dream A Future, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle, WA

  • 2025 - Heritage Grant, 4Culture, Seattle, WA

  • 2025 - Artists at the Center, Office of Arts & Culture + Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Collective Power Fund, NW Film Forum + Andy Warhol Foundation, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Cultural Producers Recovery Fund, 4Culture, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Emerging Artist Scholarship Finalist, Gallery 110, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - smART Ventures Grant, Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Fashion Finalist, Fruit Bowl, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - smART Ventures Grant, Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - Celebrate Art/sts Grant, The Feels Foundation, Seattle, WA

  • 2022 - Edwin T. Pratt Scholarship, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA

  • 2019 - Steamroller Printing Design Contest, North Seattle College, Seattle, WA

  • 2018 - People's Choice Award, NSC Art Gallery, Seattle, WA

Collections

  • North Seattle College Art Collection, Seattle, WA

  • Paruparo Collective, Portland, OR

  • Ho'okipa Center, Waipahu, HI

    Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2026 - held / hidden, Canopy Gallery, New York, NY

  • 2025 - Second Skin, The Fishbowl, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - comfi.space, The Fishbowl, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Life After Occupation: Liberation Art Show, Māʻili Community Center, Waiʻanae, HI

  • 2024 - Emerging Artist Exhibition, Gallery 110, Seattle, WA

  • 2024 - Still In Our Feels, AXIS Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - Seattle: City of the Future, The Teal Building, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - Artists of Color Expo, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - Have You Eaten: Meryenda, Kasama Space, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - The Feels VII, AXIS Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2022 - Tidal Three, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2022 - Sojourn, North Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2022 - makeSPACE, Gallery 224, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2022 - Looking Forward, Sandpoint Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2020 - Somatic/Asymptotic: 3D4M Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, South Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2019 - NSC Juried Student Art Exhibition, NSC Art Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • 2019 - 8x8 - Building Community Through Proximity, ACES, Seattle, WA

Teaching + Demonstrations

  • 2025 - Sewing Instructor, Sustainable Style Seattle. Common Area Maintanence, Seattle, WA, May 17 & 18

  • 2024 - Young Choreographers Club Co-Facilitator: Fashion, Velocity Dance Center, Seattle, WA, Feb 24

  • 2023 - Art Instructor, Teen Art Studio, Gage Academy, Seattle, WA, July 7-28

  • 2023 - Art Instructor, Teen Art Studio, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, May 19-Jun 16

  • 2023 - Printmaking Instructor, Teen Takeover, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, May 19

  • 2023 - Art Instructor, Art Together at Aki Kurose Middle School, Seattle, WA, April 17-May 8

  • 2021 - ReWerkshop Instructor, Tacoma Sunday Market, Tacoma, WA, Nov 21

  • 2019 - Decal Demonstration, North Seattle College, Seattle, WA, Jun 13

Artist Talks + Panels

  • 2024 - House of Kilig - Guest on “Navigating Oceania”, Daybreak Star Radio, Seattle, WA

  • 2023 - Artist Panel: Make Banana Cry, On The Boards, Seattle, WA, Nov 9

  • 2023 - Guest Professional Speaker, Filipinx American U.S. History Course, Apr 19+20

  • 2022 - Artist Lecture, Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham, WA, Oct 26

  • 2021 - After NSC: An Art Alumni Panel Discussion, NSC Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, May 24

  • 2019 - Artist Talk, Licton Springs Review Launch Party, Seattle, WA, May 30

  • 2018 - Artist Talk, North Seattle College Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, May 30

Publications + Articles

Education + Training

  • 2025 - Canopy Program, NYC Crit Club, New York, NY (Virtual)

  • 2022 - BA, Art: Interdisciplinary Visual Art, Minor: Art History, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA

  • 2019 - AA, English, North Seattle College, Seattle, WA

  • 2017 - Sewing Techniques, New York Fashion Academy, Seattle, WA