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Las Gallas receive the Vision AwardLas Gallas (Julia Lopez, Magda Martinez, Michelle Ortiz) received the Vision Award as Creative Artists of the Year at the Hispanic Choice Awards on October 11, 2011.Guest Speaker at Drexel UniversityI will be a guest speaker at Drexel University and will talk about my work and community process. Latinos for a United Campus Student group organized the event on Thursday, October 13th. Siempre Mujer Magazine- Women Who InspireI have been selected as one of five Latina women in the Siempre Mujer Magazine's Siempre Inspiran (Women Who Inspire) Facebook Campaign sponsored by Pantene and Cover Girl. Featured in the South Philadelphia ReviewMy work was featured in the Lifestyles section of the South Philadelphia Review. Click here to read the article. Residency in Vitoria-Gasteiz, SpainI am conducting my fourth U.S. Embassy sponsored artist residency in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain during the months of June/ July 2011. Through the organization IMVG Ciudad Pintada, I am leading a group of 15 local artists in the creation of a 35' high mural in the historical sections of Vitoria. The mural represents equal rights for women and was partially sponsored by Unescoextea and Garapen Bidean, two associations that are working the tenth anniversary of Resolution 1325 of the UN on Women and Peace.Featured in the Hispanic Executive MagazineMy work was featured in the May/ June 2011 Hispanic Executive Magazine Arts and Culture Section. Click here to read the article.Cover Story in the Philadelphia City PaperMy project, Journeys South: Different Paths, One Market, was the cover story in the City Paper. The article describes the process of creating the public art installaitons that represent immigrant stories in the 9th Street Italian Market. Click here to read the article. Journeys South: Different Paths, One Market in the NewsMy project, Journeys South: Different Paths, One Market, was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Al Dia Newspaper, South Philadelphia Review.Awarded NALAC Artist FellowshipI recently was awarded the NALAC Fund for the Arts Artist Fellowship supporting my professional development as a visual artist. NALAC Fund for the Arts is a field-advised, grant program designed to help Latinos develop their creative talents and make lasting contributions to our communities and society as a whole.Featured in LATINA MagazineLatina Magazine is the leading monthly lifestyle, entertainment, beauty and fashion magazine for acculturated Hispanic women with a combined audience of nearly 3 million in the United States. I am featured in their PUNTO section of the January/February 2011 issue. The PUNTO section highlights everyday Latinas that are making a mark in the world. MURAL ART BOOK Volume 3 featured my public art workMy public artwork was featured in a four page spread in the Mural Art Book: Volume 3 created by Kiriakos Iosifidis/ Carpe Diem. This book highlights murals on huge public surfaces around the world from graffiti to trompe l'oeil. The volume features full color works within 272 pages with more than 120 different artists from Argentina to Berlin and from Sevilla to Quebec. I am glad to be one of the artists selected from the United States. Click here to purchase the book. Latina Style Magazine: Arts and Culture Feature Latina Style Magazine is a national magazine dedicated to the needs and concerns of the contemporary Latina professional workingwoman. It has a national circulation of 150,000 and a readership of nearly 600.000. In their November issue, I was one of two Latina artists featured in the Arts and Culture section. To view the article click here.BBC Espanol interview of "El Viaje" projectIn 2009, fellow artist Nora Hiriart Litz and I created the project "El Viaje". Through this project we use the arts to bring awareness of the real struggles of the rising immigrant Mexican community in South Philadelphia as well as to give a voice and space to tell their stories. BBC Espanol interviewed the family members of our "El Viaje" project. To see the interview click here.Residency in Chihuahua City, Mexico: August 2010Through the United States Consulate in Juarez, Mexico I was selected to conduct a series of workshops on urban art and recovery of public spaces in Chihuahua, Mexico. During my residency, I conducted intense community building workshops with local artists and community leaders. A total of 15 local artists from Parque del Arte y el Colectivo Madroño worked together with me in the creation of the 196 foot mural. To see the video click here.Featured Artist on Ebru TelevisionEbru Television an Emmy award winning television network available in approximately 8 million households throughout the country featured my work in their show called Blank Canvas. On the show they interview and display the work of artists, as they are considered the keepers of culture, history, and tradition. The mission of Ebru Television is to continually educate, inspire and entertain viewers of all ages through original first-rate programming in the sciences, sporting events, fine arts and every aspect of culture. They strive to foster understanding among all people through intercultural dialogue and mutual respect, thus promoting peace and diversity in the U.S. and throughout the world.To view the episode click here."Building A Creative Life as a Teaching Artist"Panel Discussion presented by the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation and Moore College of Art and Design Friday, March 19, 2010, 6:00-8:00pmMoore College of Art and Design, 20th Street and the ParkwayThe Bartol Foundation and Moore College of Art and Design presents New Emerging Talent (NET) Nights to connect students and graduates of local art and design colleges to network with each other and with creative leaders in our community. Presenters include Barbara Bickart (filmmaker), Beth Nixon (visual artist.), Michelle Angela Ortiz (visual artist), and Alex Shaw (musician).The conversation will be with a range of working artists to learn how their role as an arts educator enhances and sustains their creative lives. We will share their paths to becoming teaching artists, strategies for securing teaching artist positions, resources to build your skills as an educator, and their reflections on how they integrate their lives as educators and artists. Leeway Foundation Media LuncheonI will be a panelist for the Leeway Foundation Media Luncheon on Thursday, March 4 12-2pm.Other panelists include poet Ursula Rucker (ACG 08, LTA 08), Rev. Beverly Dale (ACG 06, 08), bex* (LTA 09), and former panel reviewer Margie Strosser, a writer and producer who will moderate the discussion.Recipient of the Transnational Grant from NALACThe National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) awarded me a Transnational grant to complete the second phase of the "El Viaje" project. "EL Viaje" brings together a part of the emerging Mexican community in South Philadelphia to give them a voice to tell their stories. In August 2009, artist Nora Hiriart Litz completed the first phase of the project by offering the families intensive workshops. The workshops incorporated writing, painting and printmaking techniques along with video testimonials of their journey. The first phase was sponsored by the Leeway Foundation.In July 2010, both Nora and I will be connecting with the Philadelphia participants families that reside in Mexico. Through intensive workshops the families in Mexico will be fully engaged in creating art works, sharing stories and responding to the work created by their families in Philadelphia. We will also be connecting with artists from La Semilla Proyecto de Creatividad Infantil S.C. from Mexico to help in engaging the communities in creating public works with positive messages. Residency in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico: 9/28-10/13/2009The United States Embassy selected me for the second time to conduct a series of workshops on urban art and recovery of public spaces, this time in Juarez, Mexico. During my two week residency, I conducted four intense community building workshops with local artists and community leaders.Fellow member of Las Gallas and writer/ actress , Julia Lopez conducted writing workshops that informed the content of the collaborative mural design. The writings and images created during the workshops reflected the participants' response to the floods that destroyed their homes in 2006 and their reaction to the waves of violence occurring their colonias in Juarez. I directed the community and local artists in the creation of the 17'x180' mural that was completed in eight days. From grafitti artists to grandmothers, a total of 80 participants worked diligently in creating the collaborative mural which depicts the themes of destruction, renovation, violence, change, power, unity, liberty and future. During the residency, we were honored to have the U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual to visit and see the positive work that the community had created.The mural entitled "El Nuevo Camino, La Alianza de Fe, Amor y Paz" stands as a testimony that in the midst of destruction and violence the people of Juarez are committed to creating social change through the arts."This We Believe" Citywide Mural DedicationThe "This We Believe" mural dedication at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia was a success. The mural was installed temporarily and was up for two weeks. Singers from Singing City filled the space with their voices and participants from the community meetings were present to see the mural completed.Leeway Foundation Featured ArtistThe Leeway Foundation is featuring video interviews of their Transformation Awardees. I was selected along with artists Sonia Sanchez and Elaine Hoffman Watts.
Latina Magazine
Hispanic Executive Magazine
Hispanic Executive Magazine
Cover Story in the City Paper
El Diario Juarez Mexico
El Diario Juarez Mexico
El Diario Newspaper SPAIN
All images and content Copyright 2011 Michelle Angela Ortiz. All Rights Reserved.
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