Marlène Ramírez-Cancio

Artistic & Co-Executive Director

A light-skinned Latina woman with long dark hair, red glasses, red earrings, and a black top smiles slightly at the camera against a neutral background.

Marlène Ramírez-Cancio (she/her/ella) is a Puerto Rican cultural producer, artist, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. As Artistic Director of BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, she creates spaces of inquiry and praxis for artist-led initiatives. Since 2008, she has directed EmergeNYC, an incubator and affinity network for socially engaged artists to develop their creative voice, explore the intersections of art and activism, and connect to a thriving community of BIPOC, migrant, and LGBTQIA+ practitioners. Now a program of BAX, EmergeNYC fosters a brave space for experimentation, risk-taking, and mutual accountability, and has over 350 alumni in New York City and beyond.

Through Mujer Que Pregunta, Marlène works as a Process Doula and Tarot practitioner, helping artists, scholars, and cultural workers shape their ideas and clarify their vision. As Artist in Residence with Aster(ix) Journal, she created the Chancletazo for Your Soul deck, a reimagining of the Tarot Major Arcana with Latinx cultural icons. Marlène also co-founded Fulana, a Latina satire collective (active 2000-2018), and leads yearly satire and parody workshops for emerging artists.

She currently serves on the Steering Committee of LxNY | Latinx Arts Consortium of New York and CECNY |  Cultural Equity Coalition of New York, and the Board of Advisors of The Action Lab and the Center for Artistic Activism.

From 2019 to 2025, Marlène was proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Performance Network. Before joining BAX in 2021, she was Associate Director of Arts & Media at NYU’s Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.