Mélida Buentello-Olivo holds a B.A. in Studio Art and a M.A. in Art History. Her thesis is about the iconography of The Confluence of Civilizations of The Americas mosaic mural by Mexican Muralist Juan O'Gorman. She specializes in Mesoamerican and Modern Latin American Art, particularly Mexican Art after the 1910 Mexican Revolution. Her interests include feminist, cultural, and political positions in Art.

She received an art scholarship to attend Texas A & M University-Corpus Christ. She graduated with honors and applied for the Master of Arts in Art History, at UTSA. While a graduate student, she was selected for the Oppenheimer Minority Museum Intership at the McNay Art Museum. She was awarded the Mitchell A. Wilder Award for Media Design as a result of her work on the museum's aides, which are still in use today.

She has collaborated with institutions such as the San Antonio Museum of Art, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas (Mexico), Instituto de México, and The Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture. Her latest project was curating an art exhibition of San Antonio artist Carla Veliz at the Jumpstart Theatre. She is presently Adjunct Professor of Art at the University of Incarnate Word, where she teaches art history and art appreciation.