Jennifer Baez specializes in the visual, material, and religious culture of Latin America and the African diaspora under the global Spanish empire. She received her PhD in art history from Florida State University, where she taught courses in museum studies and the history of African art. Her current book project on the miraculous icon of the Virgin of Altagracia in colonial Hispaniola is a microhistory exploring intersections between Marian devotion, artistic practice, race, and the formation of Spanish Creole origin stories. She is also interested in contemporary Caribbean and Latinx art, and writes on monuments, heritage, and issues of gender, race, and representation.

Her work has appeared in several journals and academic platforms including Hyperallergic, Small Axe, Arts, Smarthistory, and in the Art & Architecture ePortal published by Yale University Press. Several grants and fellowships have supported her research, including a Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation award. She was also selected to participate in the 6th annual Curatorial Foundation Seminar hosted by the Mellon Foundation and the Center for Curatorial Leadership in New York City.