The Albuquerque Academy visual arts department is seeking applicants for the Jada B. Gonzales Artist Series – a visiting artist and speaker program that brings recognized artists to campus to inspire, inform, and enhance our students’ creativity and knowledge of the arts.
“For many students, the life and career of a visual artist is less clear than other professions,” says Karl Orozco, who teaches the Academy’s new Advanced Senior Studio class. “The visiting artist will play a crucial role in showing pathways in the visual arts and may inspire future young artists to pursue this in the future.”
The selected artist will schedule a two-day visit to Albuquerque Academy’s campus between January and March 2025 to present a 30-minute artist talk to students in grades 10-12 and to lead workshops with upper-level art students. The award comes with a $2,500 honorarium, which is inclusive of travel expenses and accommodations. Click here to learn more about the Academy visuals arts department and apply by November 1, 2024. Or complete the application below.
The visiting artist will be selected by the visual arts faculty and students taking Senior Studio, an advanced-level, interdisciplinary studio art course. Each December, Senior Studio students will be tasked with curating, creating work for, and installing a group show in the Simms Library Gallery. Once they’ve selected a central theme for this show, Karl says, “they’ll have a key role in choosing a visiting artist whose work is in conversation with their own group show’s conceptual focus.”
The primary goal of Senior Studio is to show art students what making art looks like outside of an academic setting. “By giving students agency in the selection process, we hope that the selected artist will resonate with their peers and give them a peek behind the curtain of the juried selection process all working artists will face in their careers.”
The Jada B. Gonzales ’23 Artist Series was established in 2023 in remembrance of Jada Gonzales with support from donors. Jada was an artist – both as a writer and photographer; she sought connection and savored the personal discovery inherent in the artistic process. She generously invited others in to share her art, and she was courageous and determined in her pursuit of her unique creative vision.
The Academy hosted its first visiting artist as a part of this series – renowned Native artist Juane Quick-To-See Smith and artists from her studio – in February 2024. Upper-school students learned about their work during a presentation, and advanced art students participated in a printmaking workshop they conducted.
“Jada was a young artist who used photography to examine family history and personal experiences,” says Karl. “She took risks in her work, putting herself in uncomfortable situations to capture her home of Albuquerque at night. For her, making art was a cathartic process. We encourage emerging artists from all disciplines to apply and help carry on Jada’s legacy.”
The application has closed.
