upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

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New work by Michelle Ortiz to be unveiled in October

Michelle Angela Ortiz (ACG '13, ACG '12, LTA '08, ACG '05) has been working on her Familias Separadas project for a year now with Juntos, and is now collecting audio interviews and creating artwork that reflects the effects of deportation and detention among undocumented immigrant families living in Philadelphia. These works will be amplified and featured in Open SourceOpen Source engages audiences in public spaces and will put the city in the center of a global conversation about art and social practice. Michelle is one of 14 artists from around the world that will create new works of temporary public art that explore and illuminate Philadelphia’s diverse urban identity to be celebrated in October 2015. 

In addition, Michelle has the honor of paying tribute to Gloria Casarez, the first appointed LGBTQ liaison for the City of Philadelphia by Mayor Michael Nutter. Gloria was also the former Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI), and a fierce leader and activist. The mural will depict images of Gloria’s personal life and how it influenced her activist work that echoed through various communities in the city. The dedication of the mural will be during Outfest on Sunday, October 11th at 1:00pm. See the mural news featured in Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia Gay News.

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