Mosaic Scholarship: Gino Abrajano

Higino “Gino” Abrajano, who is pursuing a masters degree at San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science, is a 2025 recipient of the Mosaic Scholarship given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The $5,000 scholarship is given to a student who demonstrates potential for scholastic and personal achievement and who manifests a commitment both to the archival profession and to advancing diversity concerns within it.

Abrajano graduated from San Francisco State University (SFSU) with a degree in anthropology along with minors in museum studies and journalism. While at San Francisco State University, Abrajano served as curator for the Yates Print Collection, creating monthly exhibitions for the student library. Utilizing a collection of 800 fine art prints, Abrajano focused on representing local demographics, consistently highlighting BIPOC stories and movements. Abrajano’s curated exhibitions showcased protest posters, poetry, and art books. These represented Filipinos, Asian feminists, and the Third World Liberation Front. After graduation, Abrajano worked as a collections assistant at the Japanese American National Museum, using their materials and stories to create videos that captured the Japanese American experience. Abrajano has also been working with Asian American artwork, helping to establish an archives and exhibition at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has since taken on a new position with the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as the collections and exhibitions manager, where he works with student volunteers to provide experience in database cataloging and art handling skills, and also on installation for Living Here, the museum's newest exhibition focusing on Asian American contemporary artists.

One supporter wrote of Abrajano, “Gino really flourished when he was researching offers of contemporary art or ephemera....His enthusiasm for these stories and willingness to be on camera really benefited the museum’s public outreach by creating short videos for social media highlighting these rarer topics.” Another stated, “Gino has already carved a clear path for his career in archives in which uplifting marginalized communities is integral....a future professional whose benefits to the archival community and others will certainly be returned exponentially.”

First awarded in 2009, the Mosaic Scholarship also provides recipients with a one-year membership in SAA and a complimentary registration to the SAA conference.