UTSA professor earns 2025 Latin American Art Arvey Foundation Book Award

Juliet Wiersema with her book, "The History of a Periphery: Spanish Colonial Cartography from Colombia’s Pacific Lowlands."

MARCH 19, 2025 — Juliet Wiersema, UTSA associate professor of art history, has been awarded the 2025 Association for Latin American Art Arvey Foundation Book Award for her publication, “The History of a Periphery: Spanish Colonial Cartography from Colombia’s Pacific Lowlands.” This accolade, given annually by the Association for Latin American Art (ALAA) in partnership with the Arvey Foundation, honors the most distinguished scholarly book of the year on Latin American art.

The award recognizes exceptional contributions to the field that demonstrate rigorous scholarship, originality and a significant impact on the study of Latin American visual culture. It is widely regarded as one of the highest honors in the discipline, celebrating works that push the boundaries of traditional art historical narratives and contribute to a deeper understanding of Latin America’s rich artistic heritage.

In “The History of a Periphery,” Wiersema sheds light on rare, hand-drawn maps that reveal a long-overlooked part of the Spanish empire. Using thousands of historical documents from Colombia, Spain and the U.S., she shows how this "peripheral" region was shaped and portrayed to serve political and economic interests. Along the way, she uncovers fascinating stories of short-lived settlements, African communities carving out spaces of independence, Indigenous resistance tactics and the fragile grip of colonial power in a struggling viceroyalty.

“This award is a well-deserved recognition of Dr. Wiersema’s contributions to the field, and we are incredibly proud of her achievement.”

“I am tremendously honored to receive this recognition from fellow art historians working in Latin America,” said Wiersema. “My book on 18th-century Spanish colonial cartography from Colombia was a dramatic departure from my earlier work on first millennium Moche ceramic vessels from Peru. Despite their differences, both subjects preserve the ingenious ways that diverse cultures across time and space interpreted and presented their surroundings. I am grateful to the Association for Latin American Art and to the award committee for this significant award.”

“The History of a Periphery” has made waves in academic circles and has been featured on the New Books Network in April of 2024. The book has received favorable reviews from a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including The Americas, Hispanic American Historical Review, Journal of Historical Geography, Anuario de Historia Regional y de las Fronteras, Journal of Global South Studies, and Terrae Incognitae. The book is also slated for review in leading publications such as American Historical Review, Colonial Latin American Review, and Imago Mundi.

In her research, Wiersema delves into the intricate relationships between geography, power and representation during the Spanish colonial period. By focusing on Colombia’s Pacific Lowlands, a region frequently excluded from mainstream colonial narratives, she reveals how cartographic depictions reinforced colonial hierarchies and territorial ambitions. Her work provides new insights into the broader discourse of Latin American art and history, bridging the disciplines of cartography, visual culture and colonial studies.

“This award is a well-deserved recognition of Dr. Wiersema’s contributions to the field, and we are incredibly proud of her achievement," said Glenn Martinez, dean of the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts. "Her research demonstrates the power of art history to deepen our understanding of history, identity and cultural narratives. By examining Latin America’s visual culture, she sheds new light on the ways art and cartography have shaped our perception of the past.”

— Nick Ward