Yahumara Cantero Iversen, April Artist of the Month

Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series features paintings by Woodbridge, New Jersey-based Yahumara Cantero Iversen from April 1 through 30. Admission is free, and the paintings are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, April 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

The artist, who describes herself as “a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, teacher, and friend,” is a Cuban-born, naturalized American citizen. “What best describes a connection between my ethnicity and artwork,” she says, “is the tag of being a world citizen with an Afrocuban-American spine.”

Yahumara Cantero Iversen has been a teacher with the Jersey City Public Schools for over 18 years. “I'm a priestess, artist, educator, writer, tarot reader, jewelry maker, and foreign lawyer,” she says.

Cantero lived in San Sebastián, in the Basque Country of Spain, and studied at the The Basque Country Public University, where she graduated from law school. Immediately after graduation, she traveled to the U.S., which has been her home ever since.

“During the years,” says Cantero, “I've been learning how best wear all my hats. Here I earned my master's degree in education from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, and became a Priestess of the Afrocuban Religion of Rule of Ocha with deep roots in the religious believes and practices of the Yoruba People from the Nigeria nation in Africa.”