About Patricia Cariño Valdez

A woman with long black hair, wearing a blue blouse, standing with arms crossed and smiling indoors near a glass door.
A woman with long black hair, wearing a blue blouse, standing with arms crossed and smiling indoors near a glass door.

I’m an independent art advisor and curator based in Los Angeles. I help people enter the art world with confidence and build collections that feel thoughtful, personal, and entirely their own.

I know the art world from the inside, and I remember what it feels like to stand outside it.

I did not grow up in an art-world family or already know its language, rules, or networks. I found my way into the field through curiosity and learned it by working across museums, galleries, artist studios, exhibitions, public programs, and private collections.

Over the past fifteen years, I have developed a view of the art world that is both curatorial and practical. I understand how artists develop their practices, how galleries support careers and build markets, how museums create context, and what it takes to acquire, install, document, and care for a collection over time.

I also remember what it feels like not to know this world. My role is to make it more legible, introduce work you may never have encountered on your own, and help you develop confidence in your own eye.

A personal approach

My eye, your collection

Clients hire me for my taste and judgment. I bring a strong point of view, ask thoughtful questions, challenge easy choices when needed, and speak clearly when I believe an artist or artwork deserves attention.

The goal is a collection that feels thoughtful, cohesive, and entirely personal. Over time, it reflects what someone chose to notice, nurture, and champion.

You work directly with me.

I remain personally involved from the first conversation through acquisition, installation, and long-term stewardship.

  • Looking, research, and curatorial direction

  • Artist and gallery conversations

  • Recommendations and negotiations

  • Framing, installation, and documentation

  • Coordination with trusted specialists

Collection stewardship

My collection work includes the long-term stewardship of the Olivia Collection and Foundation across Los Angeles and Mexico City.

This work includes documentation, exhibition coordination, installation, conservation oversight, artist and curator relationships, and planning for the collection’s continuing life. This has included supporting presentations such as Between Us and Woman in a Rowboat at the Olivia Foundation in Mexico City, both curated by Diana Nawi, as well as overseeing collection projects across private residences in Los Angeles.

  • Between Us, 2024 - Inaugural exhibition at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

  • Gallery with two paintings on the walls and a large arched window showing trees outside.

    Between Us, 2024 - Inaugural exhibition at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

  • Art installation in an art gallery featuring a glass display case with a pink stuffed animal inside, a wall with a large abstract painting with red and grey tones, and wooden flooring with white walls and ceiling.

    Between Us, 2024 - Inaugural exhibition at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

  • An art gallery with framed paintings on cream-colored walls, and a central sculpture resembling hair or straw, with a black dress on top, on a round pedestal.

    Woman in a Rowboat, 2024 at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

  • Gallery room featuring multiple colorful paintings, including a large artwork of a woman reading, on light-colored walls with decorative crown molding, hardwood floor, and ceiling.

    Woman in a Rowboat, 2024 at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

  • Contemporary art gallery with several colorful paintings on white walls, wooden flooring, and a sculpture of intertwined limbs on a yellow platform.

    Woman in a Rowboat, 2024 at Olivia Foundation, Mexico City

Selected Experience

Fifteen years across the art ecosystem. Experience spanning museums, galleries, private collections, exhibitions, public programs, education, and civic arts leadership.

  • Olivia Collection and Foundation, Los Angeles and Mexico City

  • Oakland Museum of California

  • San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art

  • Exploratorium

  • Various Small Fires, Los Angeles

  • Shulamit Nazarian, now Nazarian Curcio, Los Angeles

  • Berkeley Art Center, Suspended Matter

  • Asia Society Texas, Super Sarap

I hold an MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts and a BA in History of Art from the University of California, Berkeley.

View Professional CV

Beyond Advisory

My work also creates opportunities for people to engage with art beyond private collecting.

I am also the founder of Beautiful Odd Things Always, an independent journal exploring how art shapes the way we live.

Through writing about art, home, memory, culture, family, and place, I continue the same inquiry that informs Cariño: how paying closer attention to art can deepen our relationship to the world around us. Read BOTA

Beautiful Odd Things Always

I am the founder of Suite 555, a gathering series within Cariño that brings people closer to artists, galleries, cultural institutions, and one another through intimate visits, shared conversations, and meals across Los Angeles.
Explore Suite 555.

Suite 555

Begin a conversation

Whether you are considering your first meaningful acquisition, building a collection for a new home, or seeking long-term stewardship, I would be glad to learn where you are starting.

Begin a conversation