Cressandra Thibodeaux (b. 1966, American) is an interdisciplinary visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, and curator whose practice examines Indigenous identity, historical memory, environmental injustice, and the politics of representation. Born in New York City and raised in Detroit and Houston, Thibodeaux is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Her Anishinaabe heritage and upbringing in the American South inform an artistic practice concerned with the intersections of land, identity, power, and cultural erasure.
Working across analog and digital photography, experimental film, writing, and archival research, Thibodeaux investigates how histories of displacement, colonization, and resistance remain embedded in contemporary landscapes and personal narratives. Her work challenges dominant historical accounts while examining the ways photography has been used both to construct and contest representations of Indigenous peoples. Drawing on documentary traditions and experimental image-making, she employs infrared film, pinhole photography, portraiture, and moving images to explore the relationship between visibility and invisibility, presence and absence, and memory and place. Her ongoing photographic projects include Blood Quantum, an examination of Indigenous identity and the colonial systems that seek to define Native identity through ancestry; Native Climate Refugees, documenting the environmental displacement of Indigenous communities along Louisiana's Gulf Coast; and The Land Remembers, an experimental pinhole photography series investigating the histories of Indigenous lands and the enduring consequences of settler colonialism. Her work frequently incorporates historical research, personal testimony, and alternative photographic processes to question who controls cultural narratives and how those narratives are preserved.
Thibodeaux's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Art Basel in Switzerland, FotoFest, the Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Lawndale Art Center, the Art Car Museum, and the Texas Contemporary Art Fair. She received the Texas Photographic Society's 2024 National Photography Award and was named a 2026 Gentling Fellow at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. She has participated in two residencies at MacDowell and received multiple Individual Artist Grants from the Houston Arts Alliance. In 2010, Thibodeaux founded 14 Pews, an independent microcinema and multidisciplinary arts organization housed in a former church in Houston, Texas. During her tenure as Executive Director, she curated more than 900 film screenings, organized exhibitions, and directed award-winning documentaries about artists and cultural communities. Her curatorial practice, like her visual art, emphasizes underrepresented histories, independent voices, and the role of cultural institutions in shaping collective memory.
Thibodeaux holds an MFA in Film Directing from Columbia University and an MFA in Screenwriting from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She also studied law at the University of Denver, focusing on tribal law . Her interdisciplinary background in filmmaking, law, and visual art informs a research-driven practice that moves between historical inquiry, cultural criticism, and personal storytelling.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Tribal Voices, Fotofest, Houston, TX
2024 Blood Quantum, 14 Pews, Houston, TX
2023 Portraits of My Mother, G-Gallery, Houston, TX
2022 Shadow Projection Series, Fotofest, Houston, TX
2020 Rodeo Show, Quackenbushes Coffeehouse, Austin, TX
2019 My Box Series, Texas Contemporary Art Show, Houston, TX
2018 My Box Series, G-Gallery, Houston, TX
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 The Three Fires: Contemporary Anishinaabe Artists, FOMA Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2026 Year of The Horse, FOMA Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2025 Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation, Detroit Institute of the Arts Museum
2024 Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies’ 2024-25 Student Exhibition
2023 Stamps Gallery, Respond/Resist/Rethink, Ann Arbor, MI
2023 Learning Curve 15, Houston Center of Photography, Houston, TX
2023 Women by Women, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
2023 Politics of Sex, G-Gallery, Houston, TX
2022 Light Around the World, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Houston, TX
2021 The Big Show, Lawndale Museum, Houston, TX
2021 The Art Car Museum Annual Group Show, Houston, TX
2020 28th Annual ArtCrawl, Mother Dog Studios, Houston, TX
2019 27th Annual ArtCrawl, Mother Dog Studios, Houston, TX
2018 Magnificent Seven, Texas Contemporary Art Show, Houston, TX
2010 Oil On Water, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
VIDEO INSTALLATIONS
2023 Nestor Topchy Documentary, Menil Collection, Houston, TX
2021 Jesse Lott Documentary, Station Museum, Houston, TX
2021 Jesse Lott Documentary, Deborah Colton, Houston, TX
2020 Jesse Lott Documentary, Five Points Museum, Victoria, TX
FILMS (Director, Producer & Editor)
2020 Theremin Fever, 63-minute award-winning documentary
2019 Jesse Lott: Art & Activism, 27-minute award-winning documentary
2019 A World of Her Own, 11-minute award-winning documentary
2018 Dragonfly, 10-minute documentary
2017 Will and Nikki, 19-minute award-winning documentary
2017 Nestor Topchy, 21-minute documentary
2015 Jerry Makes Blood, 20-minute documentary
2015 Houston Collector, 18-minute documentary
2015 Puppet Fever, 20-minute documentary
2014 Houston Heights, 15-minute documentary
2012 Baja 1,000, 40-minute documentary
2003 Growing a Beard, 30-minute documentary
1997 Spamarama: The Movie, feature film
COMMERCIALS (Director, Producer & Editor)
2013 Houston Zoo, commercials for the Houston Zoo
2003 Ballet Austin (won Silver Addy award)
2003 Austin Futon Company (won Silver Addy award)
2003 Dr. Woolf (won Silver Addy award)
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
2026 Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Gentling Fellowship, Fort Worth, TX
2026 Houston Arts Alliance, Support for Artists and Creative Individuals (SACI) Grant
2025 Houston Arts Alliance, Support for Artists and Creative Individuals (SACI) Grant
2024 The Texas Photography Society prestigious 2024 Photography Award
2024 Houston Arts Alliance, Support for Artists and Creative Individuals (SACI) Grant
2023 Houston Arts Alliance Grant, Let Creativity Happen
2023 Top 25 Scripts for SAVE THE CAT 2023, for script “Bearheart”
2023 Finalists, NBC, for script “Bearheart”
2023 Semifinalists, Page International Screenwriting Awards, script “Bearheart”
2023 Semifinalists, Stage 32 TV Drama Screenwriting Contest, script “Bearheart”
2022 Quarterfinalists, Academy Nicholls Fellowship, script “The Hanging Tree”
2022 Quarterfinalists, Vail Screenwriting Contest, script “The Hanging Tree”
2022 Semifinalists, Big Apple Film Festival, script “The Hanging Tree”
2021 LensCulture Portrait Awards
2020 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, Theremin Fever
2020 Best Documentary, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, Jesse Lott
2020 Thin Line Film Festival, Denton, TX
2020 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2019 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2018 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2018 Rockefeller Travel Grant
2017 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2016 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2015 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2014 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant
2008 The Disney/ABC TV Writing Fellowship
2006 Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians (PLSI)
2005 First Place in the Creative Screenwriting Open
2003 Fox Diversity TV Writing Program
2002 Semifinalists in the Academy Nicholls Fellowship - script “American Eagle”
2002 Semifinalist in the Chesterfield Fellowships - script “American Eagle”
1997 Panasonic Student Scholarship for my graduate thesis “Spamarama, The Movie”
1997 Austin Film Society Grant for “Growing a Beard”
1997 Texas Filmmakers Showcase for” Three Minutes on the Bus” and “R&R”
PRESENTATIONS
2026 UNT Lecture Series, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2026 The Reclining Native Woman, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
2022 14 Pews and Houston Jung Center, Shadow Projections, Houston, TX
2020 Houston Art League Lecture, Creative Process, Houston, TX
2019 Gallery Talk, Texas Contemporary Art Show, George R. Brown Center, Houston, TX
2018 Gallery Talk, G-Gallery, Houston, TX
RESIDENCIES
2018 Studio residency, McDowell Colony Residency, Peterborough, NH
1997 Studio residency, McDowell Colony Residency, Peterborough, NH
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
2026 Cressandra Thibodeaux’s Life of Activism, Texas Signal
2025 Why Older Women Deserve to Be Photography Models, Houston Magazine
2025 Native Women, Amon Carter Museum of American Art Blog
2025 These Houston Photographers Honor Older Women, Houstonian Magazine
2025 Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation @ DIA, Detroit Art Review
2025 At the Detroit Institute of Arts, an Attempt to Make Connections, New York Times
2025 A Look at the DIA’s Contemporary Anishinaabe Art Show, Hour Detroit Magazine
2025 Anishinaabe Artists Take Center Stage in Major Detroit Exhibition, Native News Online
2025 Native American Art, Present and Powerful, Tribal Business News
2025 Native American Art, Present and Powerful, Newcity
2023 The 2023 Mother Exhibition, by Aline Smithson, Lenscratch
2021 Cressandra Thibodeaux Remains Dedicated to Her Craft, Houstonian Magazine
2021 Nine Texans On How They Survived A Frozen Week, by Megan Kimble, Texas Observer
2020 It’s Gonna Take More Than a Pandemic, Houston Chronicle
2019 Meet the Woman Behind Houston’s Indie Movie Theater, Houston Chronicle
2019 Texas Contemporary Art Fair 101, by PaperCity
2019 Where to Find Your Favorite Artists, by Susie Tommaney, Houston Press
2018 Cressandra Thibodeaux “My Box Art, by Jef Rouner, Houston Chronicle
2018 MyDolls Leak Intense New Song, by David Garrick, Houston Press
2017 Remains of His Day, by Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle
2016 Dialogues on Grace, by Wei-Huan Chen, Houston Chronicle
2016 Dialogues on Grace, by Natalie de la Garza, Broadway World
2016 Dialogues on Grace Workshop Performance, Houston Chronicle,
2016 Best Movie Theaters in Houston, by Clifford Pugh, Culturemap
2014 Good Vibrations, by Michael Hoinski, Texas Monthly
2013 Art House Rules, by Nancy Zastudil, Arts and Culture Magazine
2012 Reagan Seniors’ Films Spotlighted
2011 Dancer Turns to Making, Writing and Showing Films
2010 Day Trips, by Gerald E. McLeod, Austin Chronicle
2010 Bullied No More, by Michael Hoinski, Texas Monthly
2010 Looking For A Home for the Indie Films, by Louis Parks, Houston Chronicle