Michelle Angela Ortiz
Michelle Angela Ortiz is a visual artist/ skilled muralist/ community arts educator/ filmmaker who uses her art as a vehicle to represent people and communities whose histories are often lost or co-opted. Through community arts practices, painting, documentaries, and public art installations, she creates a safe space for dialogue around some of the most profound issues communities and individuals may face. Her work tells stories using richly crafted and emotive imagery to claim and transform spaces into a visual affirmation that reveals the strength and spirit of the community.
For 20 years, Ortiz has designed and created over 50 large-scale public works nationally and internationally. Since 2008, Ortiz has led art for social change public art projects in Costa Rica & Ecuador and as a Cultural Envoy through the US Embassy in Fiji, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Venezuela, Honduras, and Cuba.
Ortiz is a 2020 Art For Justice Fund Grantee, PEW Fellow, Rauschenberg Foundation Artist as Activist Fellow, and a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist National Fellow. In 2016, she received the Americans for the Arts Public Art Year in Review Award, which honors outstanding public art projects in the nation.
Tell us about you and your work.
I am a visual artist, muralist, community arts educator, and filmmaker. For over 20 years, my work intends to move the image beyond the expected to create a platform that amplifies and energizes the existing power and voices of the community. I create work in response to critical issues to provoke empathy, create awareness, spark action and do it in a way that is both poetic and powerful.
What inspires you?
Stories of triumph, joy, and strength in the face of adversity are what inspire me. From our neighbors to mothers crossing borders, these stories that are so powerful need to be seen and heard.
What does community mean to you?
Community means the people who claim you, and you claim them. My people are from el caribe, land workers, healers, and bolero singers. My people are from la costa, the Magdalena river, and brown women that cook, laugh, and love hard. My people are hovered over tins of fire and keeping our Market alive with their immigrant dreams. My people with calloused hands and warm hearts survive the trauma by sharing their stories and revealing their light.
Favorite film
My favorite film right now is "La Casa de Mama Icha" by Oscar Molina. Oscar was able to capture my grandmother's journey back to her home in Mompox, Colombia. The film is both heartbreaking, beautiful, and necessary to share. It reflects the complexities of families and how we have been impacted by immigration. I am grateful for Oscar and his ability to capture a piece of my family's history.
Favorite song
I grew up listening to my father sing boleros, and because of that, I have a huge appreciation for songwriters, composers, and musicians. The one song that I love and resonates with me and that I used in my "Las Madres de Berks" film is "Hoy Me Sabe a Libertad" by Waldemar Reyes.
Favorite place
My favorite place is the ocean. I am always in awe of her beauty and magnificence.
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