​Beatriz Guzman Velasquez was born and raised in the Texas-U.S. Southwest/Mexican border region.  She received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is an alumna from the New York Studio School and the University of Texas-Pan American.  In 2021-2022, she participated in DocX Archive Lab Fellowship with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.  She formed part of the National Association of Latinos Arts and Culture Fellowship and completed her residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada.  In 2009, she joined the New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Program and attended Lazuli Residency in Vermont.  She is the founder of Juana Simona, a space dedicated to creativity and the stewardship of the land.