Leila Weefur

Leila Weefur
Leila Weefur speaks into a microphone
Leila Weefur in 2026
Born1989 (age 36–37)
Oakland, California, U.S.
EducationHoward University
California State University, Los Angeles
Mills College
OccupationsArtist, writer, and curator
Websiteleilaweefur.com

Leila Weefur (born 1989) is a Black transgender American artist, writer, and curator. Their work explores gender identity, race, religion, and systems of belonging.

Early life and education

Weefur was born and raised in Oakland, California. Weefur's mother, a member of the Black Panthers, enrolled them in an all-Black elementary school, where Weefur and their classmates learned about civil rights leader Frederick Douglass and practiced Kwanzaa principles.

Weefur first began to question their gender identity at the age of 10. They were raised as a Baptist, but left the church after being baptized at the age of 15.

Weefur earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Howard University, a bachelor's degree in film from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Master of Fine Arts from Mills College in 2016.

Career

After graduating from Cal State LA, Weefur spent several years in Los Angeles working in the film industry before returning to Oakland to study fine art at Mills College.

In 2019, Weefur curated an exhibit that paired photos taken of the Black Panthers in 1968 with the work of contemporary Black artists.

Also in 2019, Weefur's video installation, "Between Beauty and Horror", explored and questioned the Black experience, and "the ways black folks often have blackness imposed on them in this very specific way".

In 2020, Weefur was one of the inaugural recipients of a California Black Voices Project grant, to showcase new work at the Minnesota Street Project galleries in San Francisco the following year. Their project, "Prey†Play", explored how they felt that belonging to the Christian Church suppressed their gender identity.

In 2020, Weefur joined the board of directors of the Letterform Archive.

In 2024, Weefur was awarded a MacDowell residency, and served as artist-in-residence for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. During the residency, Weefur worked on "The Chapel of Becoming", an exhibition on the transgender body and spirituality that drew on the trans anarchitecture work of Jack Halberstam. The exhibit opened in October 2026 at The Lab in San Francisco, and included a video featuring trans community members including historian Susan Stryker.

In 2025, Weefur was appointed as an assistant professor in photo/media and new genres at the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences. They have also worked as a lecturer at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Weefur is a member of The Black Aesthetic, a collective founded in 2016 that curates Black visual culture.

Notes

  1. ↑ Weefur goes by he, they, and she pronouns. This article uses singular they pronouns for consistency.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wilson, Emily (December 17, 2020). "In 'New Labor Movements,' curator Leila Weefur traces legacy of Frederick Douglass". 48 Hills. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "The Black Aesthetic Team". The Black Aesthetic. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Meline, Gabe (January 8, 2025). "A BAMPFA Film Series Reconsiders the American Western". KQED Inc. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Didion, Timothy (January 23, 2019). "Exhibit views Black Panther movement through fresh lens". KGO-TV. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morris, Barbara (January 4, 2022). "Leila Weefur's Hymns for Other Voices". Artillery. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Questions of faith in art, self and religion". San Francisco Examiner. October 28, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Carmona, Leo (September 15, 2025). "Three Tenure-Track Faculty Appointments". University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Leila Weefur". University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  9. ↑ Donohue, Caitlin (January 18, 2019). "Black Panthers, today: A 1968 photo series exploring the activists' humanity finds significance in 2019". 48 Hills. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  10. ↑ Hotchkiss, Sarah (February 20, 2019). "Leila Weefur Renders Black Experience Dreamlike in 'Between Beauty & Horror'". KQED Inc. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  11. ↑ Hotchkiss, Sarah (October 27, 2020). "Five Artists and Curators Receive Inaugural California Black Voices Project Grants". KQED Inc. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Leila Weefur and Alejandro Chavetta Join Our Board of Directors". Letterform Archive. October 1, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Leila Weefur". MacDowell. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Leila Weefur". Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Retrieved November 1, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Leila Weefur: The Chapel of Becoming". SF Station. Retrieved November 1, 2026.