Alumna has designs on the art world

By Mark Muckenfuss

It took the courage of asking a question to start Tatiana Cabrera on her career path. 

Cabrera, who graduated from Cal State Monterey Bay in Fall 2023 with a degree in communication design, was working part time at a local market in Carmel Valley in 2021 when she met Patricia Qualls. 

“I knew Patricia was an artist and had a gallery,” Cabrera said. “I asked if she had an art internship.”

She did. Qualls took Cabrera on as a studio assistant. Cabrera later advanced to a sales position and finally to director of the posh space in downtown Carmel. 

She said she hopes to own her own gallery in the future. Her CSUMB education was critical for her development as a designer, she added, and for the work she is doing today.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t use what I learned at CSUMB in my job,” Cabrera said. “I feel like every class I took at CSUMB prepared me for wearing many hats.”

Those hats include day-to-day management of the gallery, marketing work that utilizes her graphics skills and developing her own talent as a painter. Cabrera creates large-scale abstract acrylic – and sometimes oil – compositions. She is represented by the Patricia Qualls Gallery. 

She credits CSUMB with much of her success so far.

“The teachers were very supportive and put their trust in your artistic capabilities,” she said. “I learned to trust my vision and stand up for my ideas. This has proven to be important not just in relation to graphic design but especially when creating abstract art.”

It was more than she had expected and came as a pleasant surprise. 

"My first month at CSUMB, I was coding something for a  programming class, and I accidentally wiped my computer.” Cabrera said. “I did not sleep that night. I thought, ‘My professor is going to be so mad. There goes my grade.’ I told him, and he said, ‘Don’t worry about it. These things happen.’ He actually helped me get all of my data back. I ended up with an A in the course. 

“It was so refreshing to know it’s OK if you have a hiccup as long as you get it done,” she added. “It was one of those instances where I was seen as a human and not just a number.”

Cabrera said she also found community with her fellow students at CSUMB.

“There was a wonderful camaraderie among the graphic design students,” she said. “We were all friends and would support each other. I don’t have one bad memory of working with students there.”

She’s enjoyed seeing many of them move on to professional positions.

“I love seeing that they have jobs in their fields now,” she said. “A lot of them that I’ve stayed in touch with work for big local companies, doing graphic design, doing social media.”

She has also had some continued contact with the university. Last year, she helped with the Women in Leadership event and is hoping to be more involved in the future. 

Cabrera said she appreciates the fact that she graduated from CSUMB debt-free. She doesn’t think that would be the case had she attended the University of California school where she was also accepted. It’s one of the reasons she is encouraging her sister, who is currently attending Monterey Peninsula College, to also become an Otter.

More than anything, she said, she is thankful for the mentoring and guidance she received from her professors who encouraged and helped expand her design skills. 

“I carry that with me,” she said. “It gives me a good base to trust myself.”