Two artists visiting campus through BIPOC Summer Resident program

ALFRED, NY – Alfred University’s School of Art and Design and Performing Arts Division announces two new artists visiting campus as part of the first annual BIPOC Summer Resident artists program. Adrian Aguilera and Jacoub Reyes will be on campus, working at the Cohen Studio on Main Street in Alfred, from July 18 to Aug. 10.

In addition, Aguilera will be giving an artist talk on Thursday, July 21, from 6-7 p.m. at the Cohen Gallery. The event is being held as part of the July Alfred Art Walk.

Arts at Alfred University’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Artist-in-Residence program provides artists with opportunities to dive deeply into their artistic research and practice, and creative endeavors. The goal of the residency is to provide a cross-cultural destination at Alfred University for early-career BIPOC artists to enhance social/racial justice or combat structures of white supremacy. This will serve artists who have been historically underserved and remove systematic barriers.

Born in Mexico’s industrial capital of Monterrey, Aguilera immigrated as a young adult to the U.S. where he settled in Austin, Texas in late 2000’s. He received his BFA (2004) from The Autonomous University of Nuevo León, México. Working with a variety of mediums that include sculpture, text-based work, print media, he has exhibited both nationally and internationally. In addition to his practice, he is an active member of the Austin-based contemporary arts collaborative Black Mountain Project. He currently lives and works in Austin, Texas.

Reyes is a printmaker and installation artist based out of Orlando, Florida. Reyes hosts workshops independently in the community and is the founder of Temporary Stay Residency and Weekend Press. Reyes is a recipient of The Puffin Foundation, The Pew Collective Grant, Allies in Arts Grant, United States Artists Grant, Immerse Artist Grant, Awesome Grant, Southern Graphics International Grant, and J.R. Hopes Scholarship. His work is held in several public and private collections, including MassArt, Morgan Conservatory, UCF, Frontera Galeria Urbana, The City of Orlando's Public Art Collection, and Hoopsnake Press. He has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The first two visiting artists in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Artist-in-Residence program Tatiana Florival and Clare Chu. Florival focused on creating an immersive video installation called, ‘The Only Land of the Free,’ which is a magical-realistic tale of her family in a fantasy world mirroring Haiti. Chu created fabric installations tailored with public archive images of landmarks in Georgia and her personal family collection. Their finished work will be presented at their show in September.