ABOUT THE EVENT

In partnership with Mullowney Printing we will have Nuria Montiel and her mobile press, Imprenta Móvil (IM), at Stelo to engage folks in the development of a new project.

Nur is the Summer 2023 Federico Sevilla Sierra resident at Mullowney Printing. During her time in Portland, she'll be engaging with a series of public interventions on the streets, building bridges between the creative community in Portland and Puebla, where she currently resides.

Join us to view the current exhibition on view, Una Palabra de Lucha during First Thursday and meet Nuria.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nuria Montiel (Mexico City, 1982) is currently part of the National System of Art Creators (2021-2024) with the project "Masa Madre, jardines y fogatas”; an open work that mutates, activates and pulsates in time with the collaboration of different people who converge in the same space through artistic practices that involve dialogical and artisanal processes. It is a continuation of a previous work "A fuego lento,” an installation made up of a series of objects produced in collaboration with artisans and artists from the Purépecha region in Michoacán. It was commissioned for the XIV FEMSA Biennial (2020). Montiel’s work has been shown individually in “Tejido/RbutCIV” (2019) at the Instituto Cultural de México in Belize, “Wxnder Wxrds” (2015) at Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago and “¡Sacúdete!” (2013) Proyecto Fachada del Museo de Arte Público Siqueiros in México City. In recent years she has participated in collective exhibitions, fairs, concerts and meetings inside and outside the country, among which are "The Space between Classrooms, 5th Annual Architecture Exhibition”, Swiss Institute in NYC (2021); "The abuse of forms", MACG in Mexico (2019-2020); “Open Graphics: Expansive Routes in Mexican Graphics”, CIRCA Gallery, in Montreal (2018).

Nuria Montiel obtained her MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015-2017) and attended the PEC-SOMA contemporary art program (2010-2012). She completed her degree in visual arts from the Faculty of Arts and Designs-UNAM (2002-2008) where she was a member of the Multiple Media Seminar. She has been awarded the Young Creators scholarship twice. She has done artistic residencies at Casa Wabi in Oaxaca; The Wall in Colombia; ISCP-FONCA in New York, Davidoff Artist Initiative in the Dominican Republic and at the Hyde Park Art Center Museum in the city of Chicago. Montiel lives and works in Mexico where she is a full-time professor at the UDALP undergrad program for Fine Art.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Art has the potential to transform consciousness, feed the imagination, provoke experiences that expand our sensitivity and understanding of the world; accompanied by other knowledge and practices, art has the power to guide the human being towards a future of common well-being that generates symbolic counterweights against the fear, ignorance and violence of humanity. Exciting experiences, that erase limits and borders, that mix us and make us learn from each other, are ingredients from which my work is nourished. The work begins with a personal concern that gives way to a research process based on travel and drift from which dialogues and collaborations with different interlocutors arise. Inquiries that materialize in the production of pieces that come to life in space with the participation of the public.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Inspired by 20-years of ongoing artistic organizing by Neo-Latino Collective, a primarily East Coast-based group of artists founded in 2003 to create a space for the Latinx voice within the collective artistic landscape, Una Palabra de Lucha is a group exhibition featuring artists from Neo-Latino Collective with Portland based artists that dialogue around the unattainable oneness of Latinity, and why identity is a fighting word. This core exhibition will take place within Stelo’s flex space located on the North Park Blocks in downtown Portland, with satellite programming happening at partner locations throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Co-curated by Diana Cuartas and Marcelo Fontana, the exhibition takes its name from an interview with Julio Cortázar, where he raised questions about the impossibility of a uniform idea of Latin American identity, exploring the need to build community in spite of these complexities in order to create networks of support and subvert the othering gaze.

The core exhibition at Stelo will be focused on the Latinx diaspora, but the whole program will be open to other relationships surrounding identity and community in Portland.

Satellite exhibitions and programs being organized in partnership with peer arts and culture organizations will feature additional local artist collectives and will focus on creating opportunities for creative communities to cross-pollinate and share ideas and experiences.

ABOUT THE OPENING

You are invited to join us on Saturday, July 17 at 412 NW 8th Ave from 2-6pm to celebrate the work on view by:

Neo-Latino Collective artists: Hugo Xavier Bastidas, Olga Mercedes Bautista, Lisette Morel, Nelson Alvarez, Michael Barreto, Monica Camin, Christie Devereaux

Oregon based artists: Heldáy de la Cruz, Laura Camila Medina, Diego Morales-Portillo, Julia Sodré, Manu Torres, Patricia Vázquez Gómez

This is a FREE public program with a live performance by Lisette Morel at 2pm, and Nelson Alvarez will be creating a new ephemeral drawing and durational performance piece throughout the opening event. The exhibition space is ADA accessible with 2 gender neutral washrooms.

DARK CENTER “The Cycle of Art”

About the Event

Join us for a lecture by India Lovejoy on the cyclic nature behind the many lives lived by artwork from concept to creation, community, and collection. This event is for creative thinkers across all industries to deepen their understanding of how their contributions enhance the creative spectrum while asking provocative questions about prioritizing access and sustainability.

You are also invited to visit India’s project on

Saturday and Sunday, April 22nd & April 23rd, Noon - 6 PM

These are open hours for artists of all backgrounds and skill levels, working in any medium or practice to discuss ongoing projects, goals, and ideas with creative producer and artist advocate India Lovejoy.

Artists are invited to bring work samples, business ideas, and existing projects for evaluation to create long-term sustainability, access, and abundance.

SPACE TO SHARE

About the Program

Our first activation of our downtown Portland flex space in 2023 is focused around the idea of sharing our space. With the help of our advisory council, we invited 4 local artists to offer creative gatherings, activations, and happenings. We are excited to invite you to the first public event happening for this program.

SPACE TO SHARE

About the Program

From Feb-April 2023, our downtown Portland flex space is being activated around the idea of sharing our space. With the help of our advisory council, we invited 4 local artists to offer creative gatherings, activations, and happenings.

OPEN STUDIO March 28, 5:30-8:30 PM

Join us at our downtown flex space for an open studio event with Meech Boakye. There will be complimentary refreshments and print takeaways for those who want them.

Meech will be sharing a selection of new and old works and hopes you'll pop in to ask questions or grab a snack.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Meech Boakye (BA. Visual Studies, University of Toronto) is an artist, writer and arts worker in "Portland, OR." Boakye’s practice is rooted in relationships with floral, fungal, and microbial kin as armatures for learning how to be in community. These works often exist as biomaterial research, ferments, drawings, poems, print or web publications, or as collaborative and relational programming.

SPACE TO SHARE

About the Program

From Feb-April 2023, our downtown Portland flex space is being activated around the idea of sharing our space. With the help of our advisory council, we invited 4 local artists to offer creative gatherings, activations, and happenings.

ORBIT PROJECT March 24 + April 7 + April 21

This Orbit Project event is the first of a three part film screening series hosted by Marcelo Fontana and Chris Ticas. This series will give videos a second chance to be seen, with the sessions lasting from 120 to 150 min divided in 2 blocks: Screening and open conversation. Visit the eventbrite link to register.

SPACE TO SHARE

About the Program

Our first activation of our downtown Portland flex space in 2023 is focused around the idea of sharing our space. With the help of our advisory council, we invited 4 local artists to offer creative gatherings, activations, and happenings. We are excited to invite you to the first public event happening for this program.

DARK CENTER February 23 - March 5, 2023

The Dark Center is a project series that creates spaces for contemporary black art to be viewed as a landscape for commerce and community. Curated by the visionary Creative Producer India Lovejoy, this temporary exhibition explores nearly a decade of working with artists and art collecting to present her past, present, and future in a powerful visual art installation that sets the tone for her presence in Portland. 

Curatorial Discussion with India Lovejoy + Christine Miller | Thurs March 2 @5pm

First Thursday Hours, March 2, 6-8pm

Friday - Saturday 12-5pm open hours

Future dates TBA

We’re proud to host Fonograf Editions annual fundraiser event at our downtown Portland space. This event features performances by Dao Strom, Bill Carty, Patrick Dundon, and Anis Mojgani.

Can’t come in person, but want to support Fonograf? Check out their online auction through November 23, 2022.

ABOUT FONOGRAF EDITIONS

Established in 2016, Fonograf Editions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit press and literary record label based in Portland, OR. Places like The Paris Review Daily and Poets & Writers have previously written about their creation and development.

FONOGRAF EDITION’S MISSION

Fonograf Editions exists to take risks that push the boundaries of sound, text, and genre. They value the interdisciplinary, experimental, and unclassifiable, and strive to bring to life works that resist, bend, and break expectations. They prioritize public access by making a component of each of their releases available for free to the public (such as streaming audio online) and by hosting multiple free community events each year.