Aug 3, 2017

Artists Michelle Angela Ortiz and Jesse Krimes Win Rauschenberg Fellowships

by: Laura Kochman

Familias Separadas © 2015 Michelle Angela Ortiz. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 1600 Callowhill Street. Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Congrats to Michelle Angela Ortiz and Jesse Krimes, two of our frequent artist collaborators, on their 2017 Artist as Activist Fellowships from the Rauschenberg Foundation! These fellowships provide up to $100,000 over two years to artists and art collectives addressing racial justice through the lens of mass incarceration. Michelle Angela Ortiz will continue the work she began with Mural Arts on Familias Separadas, expanding the project to focus on family trauma caused by detention of undocumented mothers and children. Jesse Krimes will build on the Voices project that started within our Restorative Justice program, building outward to generate grassroots support in conservative areas—the project centers around elevating the voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and collectively envisioning a path forward.

Both of these artists bring attention to issues of mass incarceration at a deeply personal level, and we’re so excited to see two Mural Arts projects gaining momentum and continuing forward. You may have seen images of the completed artwork for Familias Separadas and Voices, so we wanted to take this opportunity to showcase some of the artists’ hard work behind the scenes.

Michelle Angela Ortiz and Familias Separadas 

  • Artist Michelle Angela Ortiz at work on Familias Separadas / Se Siente el Miedo in her studio. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Install for Familias Separadas outside of Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 1600 Callowhill Street. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Artist Michelle Angela Ortiz works within the community at Juntos in South Philadelphia, for Familias Separadas. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Right: artist Michelle Angela Ortiz. Install for Familias Separadas / Se Siente el Miedo, 9th Street and Washington Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Familias Separadas © 2015 Michelle Angela Ortiz. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 1600 Callowhill Street. Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Familias Separadas / Eres Mi Todo (You are My Everything) © 2015 Michelle Angela Ortiz. City Hall Courtyard, Philadelphia. Photos by Steve Weinik.

  • Familias Separadas / Te Amo (I Love You) © 2015 Michelle Angela Ortiz. Love Park, 1599 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia. Photos by Steve Weinik.

  • Familias Separadas / Se Siente el Miedo © 2015 Michelle Angela Ortiz. 9th Street and Washington Avenue, Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Familias Separadas: 6th and Tasker by Michelle Angela Ortiz. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Familias Separadas was part of Open Source, our massive 2015 exhibition. Michelle Angela Ortiz created a series of portraits and phrases around the city using stencils, basing her work on interviews with immigrants living in Philadelphia who have been affected by deportation. The oral histories collected for this project remain online.

Jesse Krimes and Voices 

  • Right: artist Jesse Krimes. Voices workshop. January 18, 2017. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Voices workshop. January 18, 2017. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Artist Jesse Krimes speaks at Graterford SCI, as part of the Voices project. Photo by Mural Arts Philadelphia staff.

  • Programming at Graterford SCI, as part of the Voices project. Photo by Mural Arts Philadelphia staff.

  • Artist Jesse Krimes speaks at the opening of the Voices exhibition at Painted Bride Art Center. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Voices exhibition at Painted Bride Art Center. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Voices exhibition at Painted Bride Art Center. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Voices exhibition at Painted Bride Art Center. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • Voices by Jesse Krimes. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Within our Restorative Justice program, Voices aimed to provide a counterpoint to the climate of silence and stigma around incarceration. Participants shared their stories through workshops on writing, drawing, performance, and other forms of creative expression, resulting in a mural and an exhibition at Painted Bride Art Center that centered on their concerns and ideas.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer >>

 

Open Source was presented by the Knight Foundation and the Hummingbird Foundation. Lead corporate support was provided by Bank of America, with additional support provided by the Christian R. & Mary F. Lindback Foundation, the City of Philadelphia, the Ford Foundation, The Barra Foundation, Sadie Coles HQ London, Paula Cooper Gallery New York, and Blum & Poe Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo.

Voices was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Ford Foundation, and the project was in partnership with The Reentry Think Tank, Home for Good Reentry Coalition, SCI Graterford, and Eastern State Penitentiary.

Last updated: Aug 3, 2017

Art in Philadelphia , Public Art , Restorative Justice , Special Projects

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