Focus On Puerto Rico
Clocktower partnered with MECA International Art Fair and Mana Contemporary Miami, and to launch a residency program for Puerto Rican diaspora artists, and/or artists presently living and working in Puerto Rico.
In its entirety, "Focus on Puerto Rico" was a three-month residency intensive for emerging and mid-career Puerto Rican artists from Puerto Rico and its diaspora.
During Miami Art Week, visitors were invited to explore the 777 International Mall, where FOPr artists staged happens, powerfully enviormental studio installations, and more.
Participants: Poncili Creación, Daniel Bejar, Ulrik López, Matotumba, Andria Morales, Elizabeth Robles, Yiyo Tirado, and Rafael Vargas Bernard.
ABOUT / PRESS RELEASE
Sept. 2017:
Focus On Puerto Rico aims to celebrate emerging, mid-career, and established Puerto Rican artists, providing a platform to garner broader access to, and understanding of Puerto Rico’s contemporary social-political landscape—addressing issues facing the territory in relation to the U.S. policy and the Caribbean at-large.
Born from a longstanding relationship between Clocktower Founder, Alanna Heiss and the Puerto Rican arts community, this program is made possible through the shared initiatives of Mana, Clocktower, and MECA International Art Fair. Most recently, Heiss and Beatrice Johnson curated Papo Colo: Assorted Times in Singular Spaces, which traveled to Liga de Arte in San Juan in January of 2017 after its original opening at Clocktower Gallery in 2012.
The new program will launch with a residency program this fall at Mana Contemporary’s space in Downtown Miami, with studios located in the historic 777 International Mall. All participating artists-in-residence will be chosen through the collaborative efforts of Alanna Heiss, Mana Contemporary, and a local panel of artists and organizers from Puerto Rico.
In addition to this residency program, Mana and Clocktower will award one exhibiting artist from the Mecanismos section of MECA Art Fair for a three-month studio residency in Miami for the fall of 2017.
Through the residency and extensive programming, Focus on Puerto Rico aims to trigger a growing dialogue between Latin American artists living both locally in Miami and abroad.
