Home » Interviews » Art Curator María Elena Ortiz

Art Curator María Elena Ortiz

Introduction to María Elena Ortiz. 0:57 sec. Interview: Raymond Elman. Camera: Kimberly Urias. Videography: E. Fumero. Recorded: 10/31/2019, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).

MARÍA ELENA ORTIZ is Curator at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), where she has curated At the Crossroads: Critical Film and Video from the Caribbean (2014), Firelei Báez: Bloodlines (2015), and Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors (upcoming). In 2015, she also curated Video Islands at the Anthology Film Archive, New York. From 2011 to 2013, Ortiz was the Curator of Contemporary Arts at the Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros in Mexico City, where she organized several projects including Carlos Motta, The Shape of Freedom and Rita Ponce de León: David. In 2012, she curated Wherever You Roam at the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach. She has collaborated with international and national institutions such as New Langton Arts, San Francisco; Teorética, San Jose, Costa Rica; the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco; and Tate Modern, London. Ortiz has contributed to writing platforms such as Fluent Collaborative, Curating Now, and Terremoto Magazine. In 2014, she was the recipient of the The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and Independent Curators International (ICI) Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean.

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The videos below are organized by Success Factor and run between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

SERENDIPITY: 2:00 min

What was your earliest memory of art of any discipline?

VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION: 1:06 min

Where did you go to school, and what did you learn that still informs you today?

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 0:54 min

What was it like to go to school in Boston after having grown up in a tropical environment?

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 1:51 min

Getting traction as a curator is very difficult. What was the arc of your career that so far has culminated in your prestigious position at PAMM?

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 1:26 min

Did you interact with gallerist Nina Menocal when you were working in Mexico City?

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 2:17 min

What were your stepping stones to obtain your current position at the Perez Art Museum Miami?

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 2:40 min

How has Miami’s racial and ethnic diversity impacted you?

SELF-CONFIDENCE: 1:08 min

You have curated a lot exhibitions in a relatively short period of time. What are your talents that enable people to trust you and invest in your vision?

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 2:31 min