Cecilia Portal

Curriculum Vitae
Cecilia Portal, Photographer

Grants and Awards

2002 - 03 NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, The Architectural Heritage of New Mexico to collect oral histories from NM architects

2000 - 01 NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol project to fund the Village of los Ranchos exhibit, lecture and oral history workshops

1998 - 99 FUND FOR U.S MEXICO CULTURE, Con el Corazón Partido, Inmigrantes Mexicanas en Nuevo México (With a Split Heart, Mexican Inmigrant Women in New Mexico)

VICTORY KNOLL RESOURCE SHARING, Conversaciones con Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1996 NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1995 - 96 McCune FOUNDATION, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1994 CENTER FOR REGIONAL STUDIES, University of New Mexico, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1991 - 92 GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP AWARD, Dreams and Myths
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1990 - 91 NEW MEXICO ARTS DIVISION, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1989 - 90 NEW MEXICO ARTS DIVISION, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1984 - 85 NEW MEXICO ARTS DIVISION, Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol

1984 - 85 NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND THE NEW MEXICO ARTS DIVISION, Community Challenge grant, "Santa Fe City Streets" resulting in a one woman show, Private Parts in Public Places

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Collections

Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan

Jane Reese Williams, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Mexico City

Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico

National Institute of Fine Art, Museum of Veracruz, Veracruz, México

National Institute for Indigenous Peoples (INI), Ministry of Education, Mexico City

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Publications

1998 - New Mexico Magazine Las Mujeres, collaboration with Larry Walsh.

1995 - LUNA CORNEA, Centro de la Imagen, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (Ministry of Culture) Ciudad de México, México

1993 - VIEW CAMERA MAGAZINE, Article by Constance Shortlage and reproductions of the "Dreams and Myths" portfolio, Santa Monica, California

FRONTIERS JOURNAL, University of New Mexico, Women's Study Center, Albuquerque

1991 - EL PALACIO, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1990 - THE TAOS REVIEW, arts and literature publication, Taos, New Mexico

1981 - NINE LEADING MEXICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS, Camera 35 Magazine, New York

1980 - THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NUDE, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

MY FIRST YEAR BOOK, Ministry of Education, a primary school text book, Mexico City

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Selected Individual Exhibits

2003 - LAS MUJERES DE LA TIERRA DEL SOL Macey Center, New Mexico Technology Institute (NMTech) (Instituto Técnico de Nuevo México), Socorro, Nuevo México

CON EL CORAZÓN PARTIDO - Centro Inter-Cultural de la Mujer, Anthony, New Mexico

2002 - LAS MUJERES DE LA TIERRA DEL SOL Village of Los Ranchos, New Mexico

1999 - CON EL CORAZON PARTIDO Esta exposició abrió en la estación Zapata del Metro , subsecuentemente viajo a 8 diferentes localidades dentro de la Ciudad de México, Instituto Cultural de la Ciudad de México, Mexico City

1994 - LAS MUJERES DE LA TIERRA DEL SOL Zimmerman Library Gallery, University of New Mexico

DREAMS AND MYTHS (Sueños y Mitos) Workspace Gallery, University of Colorado, Boulder Clorado

1993 - LAS MUJERES DE LA TIERRA DEL SOL Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico

1992 - DREAMS AND MYTHS (Sueños y Mitos) Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1990 - NO TE MUEVAS TLACOTALPAN QUE TE VOY A RETRATAR Galeria Allá, Santa Fe, New Mexico

DE CHILE, DE DULCE Y DE MANTECA una retrospectiva (1975-85), The Tybie Davis Satin Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1985 - PRIVATE PARTS IN PUBLIC PLACES Santa Fe City Streets Project,(Partes Privadas en Lugares Públicos del Proyecto en las Calles de Santa Fe) patrocinado por National Endowment for the Arts and the New Mexico Arts Division (Fondo Nacional para las Artes y el Deprtament de las Artes de Nuevo México), la exposición se montó en el Galisteo News, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1980 - FESTIVAL OF TLACOTALPAN Museo de veracruz, Veracruz, México

FESTIVAL OF TLACOTALPAN Secretaría de Educación, Ciudad de México, la exposición se montó en Radio Educación

1979 - IDENTITIES Galeria Casa del Lago, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México

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Selected Group Exhibits

2003 - MOVIENDO FRONTERAS - Museo Cultural, Santa Fe, NM

1996 - AMERICAN ARTIST/PHOTOGRAPHERS IN UKRAINE - Soros Center for Contemporary Art, Kyiv, Ukraine

1995 - ENIGMAS AND ABSTRACTIONS Works from the permanent collection. Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan

THE MASK IN CONTEMPORARY ART Schnider Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

MASK, MYTH AND FUNCTION Aura Gallery and The Santa Fe Council for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM

1994 - MASKS Platinum Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1991 - TO COLLECT THE ART OF WOMEN Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, N.M

PHOTOGRAPHY IN NEW MEXICO, Moscow Cinema Institute, sponsored by the Russian Arts Photographers Union, Moscow, Commonwealth of Soviet Republics

1990 - SELECTIONS ' 90 Juried show, The College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

BORDERWORKS Main Gallery, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas

HISPANIC HERITAGE SHOW New Mexico State Fair, Fine Art Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

1989 - RECOVERY SHOW New Mexico Repertory Theater Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

VISIONS Fine Art Gallery, New Mexico State Fairgrounds Albuquerque, NM

1988 - HISPANIC ARTIST INVITATIONAL, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM

CONTEMPORARY HISPANIC ART IN NEW MEXICO Center for the Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, NM

1987 - RETRATOS NUEVO MEXICANOS a collection of Hispanic contemporary photographs Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM

1984 - VISION FEMENINA a three women exhibition, Armory for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM

1983 - MEXICO an exhibit of Mexican photographers, The Latin-American Workshop. New York City, NY

1983 - SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHERS northern New Mexico photographers, Bill Davis Gallery Taos, NM

TAOS SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL Taos, NM

8 ARTISTAS DE MEXICO Galeria Allá, Santa Fe, NM

1982 - TWO WOMEN ONE BORDER Centro Mexicano del Libro, Mexican Foreign Ministry New York City, NY

GRADUATE STUDENTS New England School of Photography, Boston, Massachusetts

1980 - THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NUDE Casa de el Lago Gallery, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City

FOUR MEXICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS City Scape Gallery, Pasadena, California

1980 - FOUR MEXICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS Museum of Santa Barbara, California

1979 - DIALOGUE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY La Esmeralda School of Fine Arts, Mexico City

1977 - SALON BIENAL DE LA GRAFICA, National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico City.

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Professional Experience

FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE SPOKEN WORD

I began using a camara in 1972 as a means of earning a living and attempting to support a small documentary film production group in Mexico City. For the past 15 years I have been working with images that first apear in my night dreams, day dreams, fantasies and the imaginary. An important focus during this time has been "Dreams and Myths" (palladium/platinum prints) images based on a series of images that first appeared in my dreams. As a result of "Dreams and Myths" process, I did an independent studies project at the University of New Mexico, working with ceramics to produce masks and pieces to be used in my photographs. In 1991 is received the Guggenheim Fellowship for the "Dreams and Myths" series. Photographing "dreams and Myth" transformed my vision of photography for ever.

Parallel to the "Dreams and Myth" work I developed "Con el Corazón Partido, Inmigrantes Mexicanas en Nuevo México" (With a Split Heart, Mexican Inmigrant Women in New Mexico), inspired in the previous project of "Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol", an oral history and photo documentation of Mexican immigrants in New Mexico. The project will culminate in a series of radio programs to be aired in Mexico City and in New Mexico as well as a traveling exhibit to be displayed in both countries. As a result of the oral history projects, I have lectured and lead oral history workshops for community groups and schools.

"Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol" (Women from the Land of the Sun), is a collection of recorded oral histories and environmental portraits reflecting the lives of Hispanic women in New Mexico. In collaboration with the University of New Mexico College of Education, we are developing bilingual education curricula and materials utilizing the oral history and photographs of this project. A series of radio programs have been produced with the audio tapes from the oral history interviews.

COMMERCIAL AND MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

1977- 78 STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, in audiovisual production, Mundo Audiovisual, Mexico City

1976 - 77 ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHER, Fondo Editorial de la Plástica, Mexican Ministry of Education, as part of my work as assistant to Manuel Alvarez Bravo while he was director of this government owned publishing house in Mexico City.

1975 - 76 HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTION, National Council for Culture and Recreation, Ministry of Labor, Mexico City

1974 - 76 Dr. Monus Albert, Pediatric Dentist Dental photography for training purposes.

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Lectures and Presentations

2003 - Lecture at the History Department at New Mexico Technical Institute in Socorro Nuevo México. Parallel to the exhibit, I lead an oral history workshop with 5th grade students at Cottonwood Vallet Charter School

2002 - Slide presentation and gallery talk at the Village of Los Ranchos, NM exhibit of Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol (Women from the Land of the Sun). A two workshop session took place with community members interested in learning how to collect oral history in their communities.

1995 - Las Mujeres de la Tierra del Sol with support from the McCune Foundation, Las Mujeres project was presented in nine elementary and middle schools in Central and Northern New Mexico. Women interviewed by the project made a series of presentations. I designed and presented other classroom activities.

1993 - Women Of the West lecture series, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and Recursos de Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

Taos Photo Workshop, The Photographic Nude, a historical overview of the nude in photography and introduction to Platinum and Palladium printing. Taos N.M. University of New Mexico, American Studies, Lecture Series "Women in Photography" slide presentation and lecture addressing my experience as a woman of color working in Latin America and the United States.

1992 - Women of the West lecture series sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and Recursos de Santa Fe, at the College of Santa Fe, NM

Platinum and Palladium printing workshop included a presentation and discussion with students of the creative process culminating in the Dreams and Mythsportfolio. Hands on workshops on Platinum and Palladium printing process.

1991 - Contemporary Photography in Mexico - Magical Realism and Social Reality. Slide presentation, lecture and discussion, sponsored by the Santa Fe Counsel for the Arts and the University of New Mexico, Fine Arts.

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