November engagement opportunities

Smelser Vallion Visiting Artist Mauricio Cortes Ortega conducts artist talk and workshop on Nov. 15 and 16 | Reserve your spot today!

Artist Talk

6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15 | OSU Museum of Art

2018 Smelser-Vallion Visiting Artist Mauricio Cortes Ortega will present an artist talk in Stillwater at the OSU Museum of Art.

This presentation will focus on Mauricio's interests and art, including work done during his recent residency as the Smelser Vallion Visiting Artist at the Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, New Mexico.

He will explore histories of particular objects and the contrasting realities about the history of making — often related to harsh narratives veiled by folklore and romanticism. Subjects include Mexican sarape textiles, colonial votive crowns, piñatas, balloons, and silversmithing in Mexico to a name a few. As a visual artist, Mauricio makes paintings and sculptures that pair seemingly distant ideas and create visuals that provide insight into the history of a particular object and process.

Artist Workshop

Monoprinting with oil sticks | 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 16 | Prairie Arts Center

Visiting artist Mauricio Cortes Ortega will lead a workshop and demonstration over monoprinting — a form of printmaking that has lines or images that can only be made once.

The artist will highlight the many techniques and approaches to monoprinting — such as oil sticks. He will also discuss the virtues of the monoprinting process and how it is akin to painting and drawing but involves an intermediary step that can be liberating and surprising. Two different approaches will be explored: participants will make one print without an intaglio press and one using the press. Space is limited, please RSVP.

Be sure to visit DRCA.OKstate.edu for updates on programming and Stillwater-based lectures.