Angel Velasco Shaw was born in Los Angeles and grew up in New York. She is an independent film/video maker, educator and cultural activist. She received her BFA in Post-Studio Arts from CalArts and a masters degree in Media Studies from The New School For Social Research.

She is a media artist, writer, cultural activist, curator and educator. Videos screened nationally and internationally include “Blowback,” “Umbilical Cord,” (collection: Cinematheque Suisse Schweizer Filmarchiv. Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain); “Asian Boys,” (collection: Cinematheque Suisse Schweizer Filmarchiv); “Nailed,” (collection: The Museum of Modern Art New York. Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain); and “Balikbayan/Return to Home.” Velasco Shaw was the originator and project director for the Vestiges of War 1899-1999: The Philippine-American War and Its Aftermath (Feb.99--components included an art exhibition, two weekend conference at New York University and performances at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre). She is co-editor of the anthology, “Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream; 1899-1999” (New York University Press, 2002). She co-curated Empire and Memory: Repercussions and Evocations of the 1899 Philippine-American War, a film/video exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. She was a core faculty member in the Asian/Pacific/ American Studies Program at New York University where she taught media, cultural, and community studies courses from 1995-2006. She has also taught at Hunter College, Columbia University, The New School For Social Research, and Pratt Institute.

Velasco Shaw was the acting executive director of the non-profit Asian American media arts organization, Asian CineVision from 2000-2001. She has participated in numerous conferences and cultural events in the Philippines, conducted media workshops in Manila and Laos, and in Filipino American communities nationwide.

She is currently working on a multiyear project, a series of cultural changes in Southeast Asia called: “Trade Routes: Converging Cultures: Southeast Asia and Asia America.