Gabriela Alemán is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her work, published under her artist name Smug Morenita, consists of boldly colored images that range from protest art to reimagined cultural iconography, resonating with the aesthetic of comics, folklore and pop art. Through her art, she has garnered a portfolio that has made it possible to center her community while simultaneously uplifting the food equity work of Mission Meals Coalition, a food justice mutual aid group she founded at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure direct food access and equity across Northern California.

As a first-generation child of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran immigrants in the U.S, community organizer and Director at a local agency, she has a rooted understanding of the social, political and economic nuances within the Mission District and her community at large. Throughout her practice(s), she has devoted herself to using the rich colors in her communities to bring visibility to the Central American diaspora, the Mission District, and to redefine what it means to be a multidimensional artist, organizer and multidisciplinary Latina in today’s digital age.