Michelle Angela Ortiz/ CV
Education
2013 Maryland Institute College of Art, MFA candidate, June 2012- May 2013
2002 Rosemont College, Masters in the Science of Arts and Cultural Management
2000 Moore College of Art & Design, BFA, Summa Cum Laude
Fellowships/ Grants/ Honors
2022 Philadelphia250, Leave a Legacy Grantee
Creative Communities Grant, William Penn Foundation
Leeway Foundation Media Artist + Activist Residency
2021 Art is Essential Grantee, City of Philadelphia and the Knight Foundation
2020 Art for Justice Fund Grantee
Catalyst for Change, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture
2019 Art for Change Grantee, Leeway Foundation
2018 Pew Fellowship in the Arts
Rauschenberg Foundation Artist as Activist Fellow
John F. Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow
Santa Fe Art Institute Equal Justice Resident Artist
Grantee, Philadelphia Foundation Community Fund
Wind Challenge Artist, Fleisher Art Memorial
2017 Window of Opportunity Grantee, Leeway Foundation
2016 Familias Separadas Project, Public Art Network Year in Review Award, Americans for the Arts
2014 Art and Change Grantee, Leeway Foundation
NFA Grantee, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
2013 Nominee for the PEW Fellowship In the Arts
2012 TCR Grantee, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
Grantee, Hispanics in Philanthropy
Art and Change Grantee, Leeway Foundation
Nominee for the PEW Fellowship In the Arts
2011 NFA Grantee, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture
Most Influential Latinos in the Delaware Valley Award, Multicultural Affairs Council, Philadelphia
Vision Award, Creative Artist of the Year, Hispanic Choice Awards, Philadelphia
2010 TCR Grantee, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
2008 Transformation Awardee, Leeway Foundation
2005 Art and Change Grantee, Leeway Foundation
Group Exhibitions (abbreviated)
2021 New Grit: Art & Philly Now, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Designing Motherhood, Center for Architecture and Design, Philadelphia, PA
Here and There, The Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia, PA
CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984-Present)!, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
Freedom through Expression, Art in Embassies, Beijing, China
2019 When Home Won’t Let You Stay, ICA Boston, MA
Crossing Borders: Vecinos Unidos en la Nueva América, York College Gallery, York, PA
Wind Challenge, Group Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
2018 For Freedoms, 50 State Initiative, Billboard project, Hank Willis Thomas, Harrisburg, PA
Making Space, Leeway Foundation 25th Anniversary, Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia, PA
Into Action, Pop-Up Art Exhibition, Task Force, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Revolutionary: A Pop-Up Street Art Exhibition, Old City District, Philadelphia, PA
Truth to Power, Group Exhibition, 990 Spring Garden, Philadelphia, PA
Signs of Solidarity, Outdoor Exhibition, Little Berlin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Art in Ad Places, Outdoor Exhibition, RJ Rushmore, New York, NY
2016 Philadelphia, Goddamn, Little Berlin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Race and Revolution, Governors Island, New York, New York
Border Crossings, La Salle University Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Después de la Frontera/After the Border, Traveling Exhibition, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
Filadelfia: New Perspectives, Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia, PA
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Quizas Mañana, Montgomery Community College Gallery, Blue Bell, PA
2017 Quizas Mañana, Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Aqui y Allá, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia PA
2011 Marcadas, McKinney Gallery, West Chester University, West Chester, PA
Permanent Collection
2022 The Seeker, U.S. State Department's Robert N.C. Nix Passport Agency, Philadelphia, PA
2019 The Courage Within Me, REACH, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
2017 Madre de Mi Corazón, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Eres Mi Todo, Print Collection, La Salle University Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Public Art Works (abbreviated)
2023 Our Market Public Art Project, Philadelphia, PA
2022 Together We Bloom, Mural Project, Portland Street Art Alliance and Hacienda CDC, Portland, OR
2021 Familias Separadas Project Phase 3- National- Art for Justice Fund
2020 CLEANSE, Temporary public art projection, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Familias Separadas Project Phase 2- Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship, Harrisburg, PA
2017 Seguimos Caminando, Monument LAB, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
Flores de Libertad, Monument LAB, Mural Arts Program, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Living Walls/ The City Speaks, Living Walls, Atlanta, GA
2016 Nuestro Andar Florece, Barrio Roots Festival, Habitajes, New York, NY
Afuera y Adentro Fanzine, Santa Martha Prison for Women, Habitajes, Mexico City, Mexico
Luminosa: Fuerza de la Mujer Latina, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington, DC
Somos Regla Mural, Meridian International Center/ U.S. Embassy, Havana, Cuba
2015 Familias Separadas Project Phase 1- Open Source, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
De La Memoria Al Muro Murals with Indigenous Migrants, Habitajes/ U.S. Embassy, Mexico
Un Nuevo Futuro Mural, Meridian International Center/ US Embassy, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Honoring Gloria Casarez Mural, The City of Philadelphia/ Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
The Doors of Destiny Mural, Congreso de Latinos Unidos/ Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Juntos Creamos Nuestra Comunidad, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Caracas, Venezuela
2012 Aqui y Allá Transnational Public Art Project, Chihuahua, Mexico and Philadelphia, PA
Construyendo Puentes de Igualdad Mural, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2011 Luz de Esperanza Mural, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Vitoria, Spain
Journeys South Installation Project, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
El Viaje Public Art Transnational Art Project, Mexico City and Puebla, Mexico
Finding Our Place, Digital Murals, Millersville University, Lancaster, PA
2010 Tierra Nuestra Mural, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, MX
2009 El Nuevo Camino Mural, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Juarez, Chihuahua, MX
2008 Mothers of the Earth Mural, U.S. Embassy Cultural Envoy, Fiji Arts Council, Suva, Fiji
Publications (abbreviated)
2022 “Routledge Companion to Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century”, Shipley, Lesley, Moriuchi, Mey-Yen, Taylor & Francis Books
“The Road to Sanctuary: Insights from the City of Sisterly Affection and Brotherly Love”, Rodriguez, Barry,
Armenta, Amada, Lexington Books, Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
2020 “When Home Won’t Let You Stay”, Respini, Eva, Erickson, Ruth, Yale Press
2019 “Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia, Farber, Paul, Lum, Ken, Temple University Press
2018 “The Book of the Word”, Petry, Michael, MOCA London, Thames and Hudson
2016 “Open Source: A Citywide Public Art Exhibition”, Alonzo, Pedro, Cruz, Teddy, Golden, Jane, Mural Arts Program
2014 “Philadelphia Mural Arts @30”, Golden, Jane, Updike, David, Temple University Press
2010 “Mural Art Book Volume 3”, Isofidis, Kiriakos, Carpe Diem
“Aesthetics: The Making and Defining of Latino Art” Berry, Elizabeth, NALAC Brown Papers
2007 “My North Philly: Neighborhoods. Murals. Stories”, Moller, Maria, Mural Arts Program
2006 “More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell”, Golden, Rice, Temple University Press
Artist Talks (abbreviated)
2021 “Shifting Borders of the Americas”, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
“Arrival and Belonging”, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
“Cleanse: A Dialogue on Art and Public Space”, Monument Lab, Portland Art Museum, and Portland Parks Foundation.
2019 “Making Learning Symposium”, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
“Unintended Consequences”, TedX Philadelphia, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
“Familias Separadas”, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
“Las Madres de Berks”, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2017 Americans for the Arts National Conference, San Francisco, CA
“Kennedy Center Citizen Artist”, John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
2015 “Open Source- City-wide Project”, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Museum of the Antiguo Colegio de San Idelfonso in Mexico City, Mexico.
Media (abbreviated)
2021 Bell, W. Kamau, United Shades of America, Television interview, Season 6, “The Color of America”, CNN
Mohn, Tanya, New York Times, Print, “Rethinking What It Means to Be a Philadelphia Artist”, Museums Special Section, May 23, 2021
Lawler, Andrew, National Geographic, Online Article, “Who Do American Monuments Honor the Most?”, September 29, 2021
2020 Hsu, Hua, The New Yorker, Online Article, “The New Monuments that America Needs”, September 15, 2020
Heidenry, Rachel, Hyperallergic, Online Article, “What Happens After the Mural of a Controversial Figure is Removed?” August 19, 2020