Storytelling Series: Artist Carlos Javier Ortiz

September 23, 2016 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

Artist Carlos Javier Ortiz and nonprofit arts director James Pepper Kelly discuss Ortiz’s ongoing work as a director, filmmaker, and photographer (pictured, from the project We All We Got.)

As a documentarian, Ortiz has focused on urban life, gun violence, racism, poverty and marginalized communities for well over a decade. Ortiz’s projects have been widely printed, screened, and exhibited. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including a Pulitzer Center Grant (2013), a Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship at The University of Chicago (2015), and a Guggenheim Fellowship for film/video (2016). Ortiz has worked in a number of communities across the US and internationally, but he is primarily a Chicagoan.

James Pepper Kelly is an arts writer, maker, and administrator. He serves as Executive Director of LATITUDE, a nonprofit digital lab that provides artists with access to high-end digital equipment, organizes regular programming, and operates a residency program. He is also a founding member and former Managing Director of Filter Photo, a photo-centric nonprofit that operates a gallery dedicated to photographic artwork and organizes an annual photography Festival in Chicago.

About the Storytelling Series:

The Chicago Athletic Association Storytelling Series shares compelling stories and interviews from some of the Chicago’s most interesting and inspiring movers, shakers and visitors. From artists, musicians, innovators, adventurers and visionaries with a great story to tell – the series gives an inside look into the experiences, moments and memories that have shaped the speakers, their work and their lives. CAA is known for its rich history, and while the walls can’t talk, the Storytelling Series continues the tradition of welcoming Chicago’s finest talent into its halls to make lasting memories. Only now, we’ll record and share those moments so worth remembering.