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Get the most interesting and important stories from the 91porn视频.These University Art Gallery exhibits spotlight Latinx and Caribbean identities
Camila Aguayo says working on Pitt鈥檚 new 鈥淧rinting Culture: Gr谩fica de Puerto Rico, 1958-63鈥 exhibit deepened both her passion for history and her own Puerto Rican heritage.
The student-curated exhibit, which opened on Oct. 12, is one of three in the University Art Gallery鈥檚 (UAG) fall series celebrating Latinx and Caribbean identities and draws from the University鈥檚 . Two others in the series launched in September: 鈥,鈥 an installation from sisters iliana emilia and Scherezade Garc铆a, and the traveling 鈥,鈥 which is shared with Carlow University. UAG director Sylvia Rhor Samaniego said the latter spotlights Black, Latinx and Haitian artists who reflected on the Haitian revolution. Other will also be featured throughout the semester.听
During her sophomore year, Aguayo (A&S 鈥23), a marketing and art history major, took a course on sculptures with Department of History of Art and Architecture teaching professor and assistant chair , who she said helped her 鈥渞ealize we鈥檙e a cultural m茅lange of everywhere in the world鈥 and to fall 鈥渋n love with the discipline.鈥
The experience encouraged her to apply for the听. As a fellow, she focused on Puerto Rican art, reading journals from 18th-century Spanish friars and other prominent Latinx figures in the industry who, she said, are seldom discussed in academia.
鈥淚 was able to learn so much of my own culture,鈥 Aguayo said.听
After the fellowship, she took a museum studies curatorial development course, during which students collaborated with UAG in phase one of a project using original Puerto Rican silk screen posters from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorrique帽a (ICP). Research entailed calling Puerto Rican museums and universities.
鈥淢y dad has a silk screen, they are everywhere back home,鈥 said Aguayo. The accessible medium was used throughout the 20th century to advocate for social justice and Puerto Rican identity separate from American or Spanish cultures. Prior to this project, Aguayo said, she was unfamiliar with the ICP鈥檚 use of the posters 鈥 produced by the thousands, along with books, films and events to educate the masses and instill pride.
Phase two launched this semester in the exhibition presentation course, where students wrote captions and descriptions for the artwork. By this time, Aguayo continued work on the project not as an undergraduate but as a . The post-baccalaureate program aids talented students from groups underrepresented in their discipline and bridges the gap between undergraduate degrees and graduate training programs. It鈥檚 made a significant difference for her.
鈥淭he program allows me to see what I can do with my interests in the future and explore what it means to be Puerto Rican,鈥 she said.听
Irene Castillo, a fellow San Juan native, arrived in Pittsburgh in 2020. She met Aguayo through Bender, though both also credited Carnegie Museum of Art Curatorial Assistant Alyssa Velazquez for their collaborations, including establishing the Puerto Rican Student Association and working on the exhibit.
Despite praising Pittsburgh鈥檚 celebration of Roberto Clemente鈥檚 legacy, Castillo, a junior studying history of art and architecture with a museum studies minor, said she experiences isolation in small ways, like when she鈥檚 on the phone, walking between classes and speaking Spanish.
鈥淧eople turn and are surprised,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a microaggression, but it鈥檚 not normal for them.鈥
Working on phase two of the exhibit enabled her to meet people with similar lived experiences and have transparent conversations with non-Latinx classmates.听
鈥淚t became bigger than just the academics of art,鈥 she added.
Castillo and Aguayo both hope the series will increase curiosity and knowledge about Latin American cultures. Beyond the exhibit, Aguayo said she鈥檚 been inspired to pursue more curatorial work in Pittsburgh and back home.
鈥淚 want to create exhibitions and spaces where people can see that European art is not the epitome of art,鈥 she said. 鈥淗ow the silk screen changed the community that engaged with it, that鈥檚 what I want to do and bring to the forefront.鈥 Pitt, she added, provided her with the tools and community to see this as a possibility.
鈥淧itt is an amazing, research-based university. I don鈥檛 know if I would have been able to do research and art history to the extent I have here at other universities.鈥
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Photography by Johnathan Wright