Emily left her corporate career 13 years ago to become a full-time working artist. Since then she has exhibited in solo and group shows in Arizona, California and New Mexico. She was featured in Phoenix Magazine’s February 2016 issue (“Leading the Way; We share 11 inspiring stories of remarkable women who are making a positive difference in our Valley”) and in the New Time’s culture blog, Jackalope Ranch’s 100 Creatives/2014. In 2012 and 2016, BIC released special edition lighters featuring her art and the collection received an international Silver Pentaward for the creative development of Hispanic Culture Series Package Design. Her art was selected for the cover and story illustrations for Arizona State University’s Latino/Chicana Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social and Rutgers University Press “Complicated Lives: Girls, Parents, Drugs and Juvenile Justice. Her paintings are included in the corporate collections of Helios Education Foundation, W.P. Carey School of Business/A.S.U. and Wells-Fargo, Arizona Lottery, City of Scottsdale, and her art was featured on the set of the ABC television show, Nashville. In 2015, she was awarded the Alvin Pace Award by the City of Chandler Foundation for the Arts for her efforts in significantly supporting visual arts. She has served on the boards of Cultural Coalition, The City of Chandler’s Arts Commission, and the XICO, Inc. Artist Advisory Board. She was the recipient of Valle Del Sol’s Profiles of Success 2021’s Spirit and Culture Award. She has taught youth art classes at Vision Kidz, The Phoenix Art Museum, and for Free Arts of Arizona Children’s Professional Artist program. From 2016-2017 she was the artist-in-residence at XICO, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes indigenous arts and education. She was selected as the 2018-2020 artist-in-resident for the Arizona Lottery (the first residency of its kind in the United States). The artist team of Costello/Moreno has been awarded the Valley/Metro South Phoenix Light Rail public art project which will be unveiled in 2024. She was awarded the 2019 Arizona State University Chicano/Latino Faculty and Staff Association’s Alberto Alvaro Rios Sange de Arte Award for creatively affecting the community through the arts; was named as one of the 2019 Latino entrepreneurs of the year by Cox Communications, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Presna Arizona; and was featured on Phoenix, 3TV/CBS 5, during 2022’s Hispanic Heritage Month, https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/16/south-phoenix-artist-inspires-hope-through-colorful-murals/
