Rogers Art Loft in Las Vegas Welcomes Daniel Melo Morales For Virtual Artist-In-Residency
ROGERS ART LOFT IN LAS VEGAS WELCOMES DANIEL MELO MORALES FOR VIRTUAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCY
Latinx Interdisciplinary Artist and Educator from San Francisco Embraces Digital Format of Residency
LAS VEGAS (Aug. 20, 2020) - The Rogers Art Loft at The Lucy, a multi-disciplinary artist-in-residency program dedicated to inclusivity, originality, and empowerment of artists, successfully pivoted to a virtual format due to Covid-19 and is now set to welcome its third virtual artist-in-residence, Daniel Melo Morales, beginning Aug. 31.
An interdisciplinary artist and educator, Morales currently resides in San Francisco where he will remain while participating in his virtual artist-in-residency with Rogers Art Loft in Las Vegas. During his residency, Morales will further explore vocality and sound. Given the absence of in-person artistic and creative connection, Morales has devised another set of strategies to reach out from San Francisco to Las Vegas and beyond and is eager to connect with the community on a more personal level, in particular using the USPS as a resource and tool for connection.
His residency begins with a virtual artist in conversation on Sept. 4 at 7 pm and will include other participatory elements including virtual studio visit, Instagram Takeover, and final culminating performance.
“Daniel is a true creative collaborator and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome him as our latest virtual artist-in-residence,” said Residency Director Ryan Reid. “Despite the challenges we are all facing, between the ongoing global pandemic and the civil and social justice rights movement, he is looking forward to exploring creative ways to connect with the community through his artistic practices. Art has historically played a key role in navigating unprecedented times and we are so proud to continue to support art and artists like Daniel.”
During his virtual performance, "Bodies Affected by Frequencies and Intensities,” Morales will be continuing his investigation of vocality. He has begun by exploring two aspects: the sound of the human voice independent of language meaning and the sound of breath itself.
“I perceive my residency as an opportunity to connect with a new community in a way that hadn’t occurred to me before the pandemic arrived in the United Sates,” said Morales. “The vulnerability that both the pandemic and the civil rights awakening have confronted us with has led me to reflect on connection and what that means. I’ll also continue in my exploration of sound as a physical material.”
His residency kicks off with a free, public virtual artist talk over Zoom on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7:00 pm PT. He will have a virtual studio visit on Thursday, Sept.10 at 2 p.m. and a week-long Instagram Takeover from Sept. 11 – 18. He will offer a virtual culminating performance on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.
For more information and to register for events, sign up for the Rogers Art Loft email blast at www.rogersartloft.com and follow on Facebook and Instagram.
A first-generation American and son of Colombian immigrants, Daniel Melo is a Latinx interdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco. He earned a New Genres MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BA in English Literature from Kenyon College. In 2019 he was selected by the J. Paul Getty Museum Senior Curator of Photography James A. Ganz for a group exhibition. His photography was included at the South African Visual Arts Historians lectures in November 2019 and from 2016 to 2019, he participated in the Headlands Center for the Arts’ Affiliate Artist program. His work has been shown in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, New York, and San Francisco and is currently held in various private collections including in Colombia and the United States. His most recent collaboration was sponsored by Fundación Jumex for the SOMA Mexico City 10th Anniversary publication, X.
The brainchild of local philanthropist and patron of the arts Beverly Rogers, the Rogers Art Loft is made possible by The Rogers Foundation, dedicated to transforming lives through arts and education in Southern Nevada.
Since launching with its inaugural roster of artists in June 2019, The Rogers Art Loft at The Lucy, has successfully welcomed a number of artists from a variety of disciplines including printmaking, sculpture, video art, fiber arts, and collage, to share their creative insight and practice with the Las Vegas community.